Back Home.

After two weeks on such a beautiful ship, I have a few comments about being home.  First, this "ship" didn't rock at all last night.  It's a much longer walk to the bathroom from the bed, but this toilet is much quieter and easier to flush.  The shower sure is a LOT bigger, but no one came to make my bed up.  And I had to make my own breakfast.  Where's the buffet?  LOL!

Seriously, it was SO good to be home, even though we loved the cruise.  In fact we booked two more while on board!  LOL!  On the first five night cruise, I booked a 14 night cruise to the southern Caribbean on the Celebrity Eclipse in March of 2016 that will include a LOT of islands we have not done together, including Grenada and St. Lucia, plus Aruba and Curacao, which I also never did before.  They gave us $225 extra onboard credit for booking while on the ship, so that was too good to pass up.  Then on the second nine night cruise, we booked a 10 night cruise on the Celebrity Equinox in March of 2017 to sail with the Herschlers.  I think there is only one new island, but I really don't remember the itinerary.  We took Concierge Class for that one, so we get the free gratuities, free drink package, and $300 onboard credit.  PLUS, we got an ADDITIONAL $300 onboard credit for booking onboard.  We got that for Dave and Evey, as well.  What a deal!  So even though we just took two of the seven cruises, I booked two more, so we STILL have seven cruises booked.  Crazy!  Will this madness ever stop?  I hope not!

As for my weight, I didn't do too badly.  I only gained four pounds in the two weeks, which for me is unbelievable. I left at 269.2 and weighed in this morning at 273.2.  I know those are still shameful weights, but only gaining four pounds in two weeks is still pretty amazing for me.

Today we are going to see the new Disney sport-themed movie, MacFarland USA.  Then we are going to the Cove for the afternoon.  Steve and Joyce from VA, a new couple that we met on the cruise and had dinner with every night, are spending the day at the Cove before heading north.  We plan to hang out with them this afternoon.  This is the first visit to the Cove, and it was their first clothing optional cruise.  They loved it so much that they booked next year's cruise while they were onboard.  We have already booked that one (one of the seven!), so we will see them again.  That's one of the nicest things about these Bare Necessities cruises.  They almost start to feel like family reunions.

Here are some pictures from the first five-night cruise.

Mark is in his favorite sailaway location, where he can watch the show on the deck below as well as get a good view of the port as we move out.

His sailaway drink!

Enjoying the gorilla on deck 11.

Our cabin this time was the Oresky's cabin last time.

First night dinner at the Tuscan Grille.

First port was Key West, always a favorite.

Went to this museum for the first time on this trip.  Very good.

Of course there is Key Lime pie!

My new hat!

We love the Thalassotherapy pool, warm and relaxing.

Waiting to go into dinner on formal night.

We really enjoyed sitting on the back deck watching the wake as we sailed.

Mark's turn in the Thalassotherapy pool, enjoying the rollers.

My new jewelry.  I won the Bella Perlina charm bracelet, and Mark bought me the red coral necklace.

Love my time in the salon getting a mani/pedi.

Enjoying watching some games on the pool deck.

Finally Celebrity has a charity walk, Breast Cancer Research.  Of course, we bought the t-shirts and walked the mile.

Then there was dancing after the walk!  They raised $990 this day.

I read this entire book on the cruise.  Thanks, Cindy, for the book.

Boarding the Constellation

Yesterday went smoothly and as planned.  We finished packing (Mark did end up taking two suitcases) and drove away about 11 a.m.  We had packed both lunch and dinner, so we didn't have to worry about where we would eat.  Lunch was a "picnic" at the first rest stop on the turnpike and dinner was in our room at Deerfield Beach.  It should be only a half hour to the off site parking lot at the port.  We hope to be on the ship by noon eating lunch in the buffet.

Once we are on board, I don't know how often I will write a blog.  Internet minutes are expensive and ship life is busy!  I will put up one or two for sure, though.  Once we take the concierge level cruise next December for a week on this same ship, we will reach Elite status and get 90 minutes of FREE internet for EACH of us!  There may be way more blogging from Celebrity ships after that cruise, but not this time when we still have to pay for it.

Today we got the free unlimited Classic drink package.  We had that for our anniversary cruise last year on this ship. We calculated that we needed to have four drinks a day to make it worth it.  That did NOT seem to be a problem last year, nor will it be a problem this year!  This is a back-to-back cruise situation, so we don't have the drinking package on the next cruise.  Five days of heavy drinking followed by 9 days of limited drinking.  Fair enough.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend wherever you are and whatever you are doing. If you are up north, take care and stay warm.  Spring is coming eventually!

This is the ship we are about to board today.  I took this shot docked in Key West in December of 2013 when the Herschlers and Oreskys cruised with us to celebrate our anniversary.

Packing to cruise again

Yesterday we had our monthly NARFE meeting.  It was a fun one, an auction of white elephants to raise money for Alzheimer's.  We took two gifts and brought back five at a cost of $150 total!  I love an auction!  Not as many people came to this one as the usual.  Maybe it was the bad weather, rainy and blustery, or maybe they were afraid they would spend too much money!  LOL!  Despite the fact that there were only 15 of us, with the auction money and extra money people donated, our chapter raised about $1200 yesterday to donate to Alzheimer's research.  Not too shabby.

Then we had to go get a new printer.  I broke our old one a few weeks ago, so I promised Mark that I would buy him a new one.  BJs had a nice one on sale, so I only paid $50 for a better one than I broke. LOL!  We got some cash at the bank, and Mark bought a new hat, an Aloha shirt, and bought me a bathing suit cover up and sunglasses at the Cove for the trip.  Once we got home, it was PACKING time.  OY!  I NEVER thought I'd get everything into the two suitcases. 

This is a two week cruise,  a five night back to back with a nine night, on the Celebrity Constellation.  It's our favorite ship and we will be in room 3104, next door to "our" room.  It's the one Saul and Phyllis were in when we sailed with them for our anniversary.  We just love that ship.  They have the Thalassotherapy pool and AquaSpa Cafe that we just love.  The Persian Gardens are also fantastic, and Saturday night we will have a specialty dining night at the Tuscan Grille.  It's going to be great. 

We will be going to Key West and Cozumel with two sea days on the first cruise followed by CocoCay (Bahama private island), St. Bart's, Guadeloupe, and St. Maarten with four glorious sea days on the second one.  I LOVE sea days, so this is six glorious days at sea out of the fourteen.  Of course, that doesn't add up to fourteen because the other two days are in Miami when we sailaway for each cruise.  Cruises always count that sailaway day as the first day of the cruise because it's the first night.  Does that make sense?  I think so.

Packing was crazy.  Yesterday.  We were trying to pack smart and reuse clothes on both cruises while avoiding expensive laundry charges.  I am only taking four pairs of slacks for all fourteen nights at dinner with 8 tops to rotate with them.  I have three pairs of shorts and four pairs of capris with 8 t-shirts for daytime wear.  Unfortunately, I also packed a bathing suit, two pareos, three beach cover ups, NINE pairs of shoes.  OK, don't hate me, but I just couldn't leave any behind.  There are white and black dress shoes, two different pairs of sneakers, water feet for going into the ocean, three pairs of sandals, and a pair of flip flops for the pool area.  Ridiculous, I know.  I packed three nightgowns and a bathrobe as well.  Honestly, I didn't even think I owned 16 pairs of underwear, but it turns out I do.  I smashed and squooshed and squashed.  I managed to get it all in my two suitcases AND zip them up.  I don't know what's going to happen when I unzip them!  LOL!  No room for bringing back any souvenirs either.

Mark is still working on it. He only wants to take one suitcase, even though he has a smaller one.  I have looked at the stack this morning. If it were me, I'd give up and get out the second suitcase.  Well...it's not me. 

As for weight, I and 269.2 this morning.  Sigh....I did not lose all of the six pounds, just half of it.  Now I'm off for two weeks.  It will be terrible if I gain 10 or more pounds on this cruise.  It's just so easy to do.  We'll see when I get back.

We will be taking our computers and buying some internet time.  I probably won't write too many blogs, if any, but I don't rule it out.  Two weeks just seems like a long time to be off line.  I'll check email and Facebook briefly now and then.  I won't listen to the news!  That's one of the things I enjoyed about our week long cruise in January. I did not listen to any news for an entire week, and I did not miss it. 

A Normal Day. Is there such a thing?

I am going to see my radiation oncologist this morning for my every six month check up. I feel like I was just there.  How can it be six months already?  I am not worried about it in any way.  I like the doctor and his nurse.  We have nice chats and I get a little check up.  It's all good.

Mark is coming with me and then we will head up to his comic book store to get his stash before heading home.  Tonight we will head over to the synagogue area for an early dinner at Denny's, a lecture at the shul by an Israeli soldier, followed by a choir rehearsal. I still can barely talk, but I do feel that the congestion is somewhat less than it has been.  They will have to sing without me, though.

Yesterday I laid in bed for seven straight hours from noon to 7 p.m.  Crazy. I snoozed and watched TV and played games on my phone.  I guess I thought I'd be better by today.  I got sick last Tuesday, so today is day 9.  Hopefully, by the time I get on the cruise ship on Saturday, it will be OVER.

I have barely moved since I got the cold.  We ate out many times, and I snacked too much on many days.  Bottom line, I still weigh about what I did when I got off the last cruise. On that cruise I gained six pounds in nine days.  I did not lose those six pounds.  Well, that's not entirely true. I did lose them right away in the first day.  Then I put them back.  This morning I'm up a half pound over yesterday to 272.3, which is precisely what I weighed the day I got back from the January cruise.  Ridiculous. I squandered the entire two weeks and I'm blaming it on the cold, the company, and eating out.  I should blame it on myself, but that's no fun.

Crazy Lens Crafters and Cancelled Plans

Well, our visit to Lens Crafters did not go as expected.  We arrived at 10:30 for my 10:40 appointment.  I got called back at 12:10.  Mark cancelled his appointment entirely and rescheduled for the last week of February.  Here's why.

We switched to Mark's Federal vision plan as of January 1, and we did that specifically because it was announced that Lens Crafters was in the plan. I had gone to the eye doctor at the Lens Crafters at The Loop twice before in 2010 and again in 2011, and I liked him very much.  Unfortunately, without any insurance, other than the 30% off for a AAA discount, I walked out paying over $500 for the exam and glasses in 2011.  Then I bought a vision plan through my work that worked at WalMart. When I went to WalMart in December of 2013 with my previous vision insurance, I liked the doctor okay but always hated the prescription I got.  I paid about $150, but I could only get another pair every other year.

Mark's new plan will work at Lens Crafters AND allow us to do it every year.  Off we went yesterday, all excited for the new insurance.  Well, it was so new that the first two people who tried to help us didn't know the insurance worked.  Their computers didn't show it.  They asked if we wanted to use our AARP or AAA cards for a discount.  NO, we did NOT.  Finally, a third lady came along who was sure she that the insurance would work but not on those computers.  She sat at her iPad for quite awhile and finally got an authorization number for our glasses.  Unfortunately, the doctor had not signed up for it, so I had to use my AARP card to get $20 off the price of the exam, paying $45.  That's why Mark cancelled his appointment.  He didn't want to pay that, so he scheduled for the end of February when they think it will all be straightened out and the doctor should be in the plan.

So....that took over an hour!  I finally went back at 12:10.  Then the fun began.  Our insurance did not cover everything I wanted for my glasses.  And then I had two choices: take what I wanted (which was $105 less) but wait two weeks, or upgrade a bit and get them in an hour.  I paid more to get them yesterday because I wanted them for the cruise this weekend.  I thought it was weird that there were no other choices except one hour or two weeks.  I would have come back any day this week for them, but no.  If they were sent out, it's two weeks before they come back. If they make them in house, it's an hour. 

I paid the extra to get something upgraded, ate lunch at Panera next door, and got my new glasses in an hour.  I love them. It's shocking how much better I can see.  it was a big change from what I had, but the doctor said it was closer to the prescription I gave up, the one THIS doctor had given me in 2011.  Something was definitely wrong with the ones from WalMart.  He was able to show me how it looked with my new ones vs. my old ones, and it was shocking!  I definitely needed a new prescription.

I also like the shape of the new frames.  All in all, it took from 10:30 to 3:10 to get that done, but I guess it was worth it. It also cost a total of $364, including the exam.  That still seems like a lot, but they assured me that the insurance was paying far more than that, about $450 for the vision plan portion.  Glasses just cost so much these days if you want no-line bifocals, scratch resistance, anti-glare, and transitions (darken in the sun).  Yes, I want all of that, thank you.

We made it just in time for the lecture on Jane Eyre, which we both enjoyed thoroughly.  Then I went home and crashed.  That was all too much for me. I never felt well the whole day.  I felt completely stuffed up and foggy in the head the entire day.  As the day wore on, I got a bad sinus headache from pressure.  That caused me to contact Susie and Ed and cancel our plans for today to go to Blue Spring State Park to see the manatees and take a boat ride. It's freezing outside today, so that boat ride wouldn't have felt too comfortable anyway.  We have rescheduled our outing for March 9, and I hope it's warmer then.

New glasses, square shape.  The old ones were more rounded. Otherwise not much difference except that I can see far away in these!  That's the most important part.

Trying to be normal today

Let's start with the Monday Weigh-in report.  Last Monday I reported a weight of 267.3. I was happy with that because it showed I'd only gained a pound and a half on the cruise and that I had dropped five pounds in one day.  Well, so much for those five pounds gone.  Today they are mostly back because I was 271.8.  Actually I'm blaming that on the big bag of Doritos, Spicy Sweet Chili flavor, that I ate during the Super Bowl.  I also had a few pretzels and sucked on a of Vitamin C drops and Hall's cough drops. 

If I'm better today, maybe some of that will fly off today.

I literally spent the day sleeping on the couch, drinking tea, watching TV (including the Super Bowl), and overeating.  I'm still sick.

Doesn't matter.  Today I have things to do.  At 10:40 I have an eye exam for new glasses at Lens Crafters, and Mark has one at 11:20.  We will eat lunch out at the Chipotle next door, finish Jane Eyre, and go to the lecture at 4 p.m. about the book.  Then I'll be home shortly after 5 and probably CRASH.

At least the Patriots won!  What a great game.  I love it when it's a close game.

Yes, still sick.

Mark and I stayed home all day yesterday so that I could try to recover enough to sing my solo last night.  That didn't happen.  Around 4 p.m., when I had already rested all day, drank multiple cups of hot tea, taken some intensive steam treatments, and swallowed some decongestants, I gave up. I emailed the choir and took Wendy M. up on her offer to sing it for me.  She did a great job.  I still feel miserable.  I don't plan to get out of my robe and slippers today.  I have been up since 8 a.m. and have already slugged down four cups of hot liquid.  Ridiculous.  Mark is currently showering and is willing to go to the store for me to buy some Hall's, some Vitamin C drops, and some more DayQuil.  I have absolutely nothing here to take other than tea.

I hope I feel better by tomorrow because I can't spend any more days in my bathrobe trying to recover.  We both have eye doctor appointments tomorrow morning plus the lecture on Jane Eyre. Every day this week has at least one major activity leading up to Friday when we head to Fort Lauderdale to board the Celebrity Constellation on Saturday for a two week cruise.  No time to be sick then!

Last night was a lovely affair.  The Rosen Plaza had decorated the room in a spectacular manner.  Nearly 200 people attended and even the food was delicious.  There was lots of entertainment, in addition to the two songs by the choir, a candle lighting ceremony that was very inclusive as well as amusing, and lots of dancing!  I took a few pictures, so here they are for anyone who is interested.

Rosen Plaza ballroom, beautifully decorated

Wendy rehearsed a few times before the event, and she did a great job of singing my solo.  Unfortunately, there were no pictures of the choir when they performed.

Wendy and me

Me and Sara

Set up for the candle lighting ceremony

Cantor Doug and Dr. Maris Ramsay being introduced as the guests of honor

Rabbi Skolnik started off the evening with a great introductory speech.

Ezra and Mark

Even the choir got called up to light a candle.  There were 12 of us there that night, but some did not come up for the llghting ceremony.  Not sure why.

Our friend Jules and his family wrote a very amusing skit about leading services.

The highlight for me was the rabbi singing "Page of Leviticus" to the tune of "Age of Aquarius."

They lifted Doug up on a chair during the Hora.

Me ad Mark at the table.

Mark brought out Irwin for the first time for the SOJC folks.  They loved it!