Some Pics from Vacation

From The Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, CA

Cabo San Lucas

Look! it's Gill (Finding Nemo)

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation ~` Days 7 - 10

 

I know I know, finally. The vacation was only six months ago ~rolling my eyes at myself~

Day 7 ~~ Puerta Vallarta

DH decided to be civil, so after breakfast we took a taxi into the older area of town. Our youngest still wasn't feeling well and seemed slightly feverish, but we wanted to get her off the ship for a while. We spent a couple of hours just strolling along the waterfront, enjoying the artwork and window shopping. It was hot and humid, and with YC getting crankier by the moment, we decided to hire a cab to drive us around a bit so we could see a little bit more of the area before taking us back to the ship. After getting the kids settled, DH and I headed back into town for some lunch and shopping.

Later, YC had dinner in my cabin with me and watched TV while snuggling with me. While she still wasn't feeling any better, she didn't want to go to the doctor and I didn't want to push it. So I stayed in with her while once again DH headed out.

Day 8 ~~ Sea Day

About 9a.m. we were awakened by another missing person announcement from the captain. Half an hour later, another announcement ~ still not found. 10a.m. as we were going into breakfast, yet another announcement. We can see that the ship has started to turn; the captain is getting ready to retrace our route back towards Puerta Vallarta, back to where this person was last seen. Not ten minutes later, there is another announcement - this person has finally contacted the captain, all is apparently well, the ship turns back on course.

YC is still feverish and not feeling well, so after breakfast, DH and I take her to the ship's doctor. She had an upper respiratory infection and ear infection. They prescribed antibiotics, decongestant and pain/fever reducer. They don't take insurance directly, so the $200 was charged to our ship account. Insane that a 10 minute meeting and those few meds would cost that much.

I spent most of the day relaxing with YC. DH kept to himself, especially after he and the boy got into a screaming match. Spent some time watching TV with the kids before heading to dinner. YC was definitely feeling better and eating. After dinner, I gave her the medicine and tucked her into bed. The two older kids headed out to the pool and I went to adult only hot tub in the solarium. I stayed there for awhile as the heat felt really good on my aching back. When I went back to the cabin, DH was heading out. I didn't want to go out drinking and partying. After awhile, I headed out to the Promenade to have a cup of tea and read. When it got too noisy I left, hoping to find someplace else quiet and comfortable, but there was loud music and people everywhere. I did see DH in one of the clubs but decided not to join him -- after so many stressed filled days, I really didn't feel like spending time with him, and I also was not in the mood for loud crowds. I was in bed just after 1a.m. DH called to try to get me to join him. When I didn't, he stayed out 'til 3a.m.

Day 9 ~~ Sea Day

Went to breakfast with the kids - DH joined us later. Everyone was civil.

Cold, grey, cloudy day. Too cold to hang around outside. Left kids to their own devices while DH and I checked our bill with the service desk and got copies of the medical records. Bill, not including medical charges, was over $600. DH wanted to know what the kids and I had spent so much money on: $20 in the video arcade, $4 for a coffee, $10 for a mojito and tip. That was all I spent money on ~~ it was all his trips to the bars, the cigar lounge, coffees, etc. But he didn't want to believe it, even though it was all there in black and white detail. He didn't push it. He did finally buy me an anniversary present -- a very nice Guess watch with a paisley design on the face.

We all ate dinner together. I really wanted to look for more marine life, but it was just too cold to stay outside. When I got back to the cabin, DH was working on the packing. I checked on the kids to make sure they were getting all their things found and packed, too. The cruise ship line did not pay attention to what I filled out on our disembarkation form and assigned us to the 10:30a.m. group -- our flight was at 12:30 -- so we were going to have to take all our luggage off ourselves. There was no staying up late or going out, just one last stroll along the promenade and around the decks before heading to bed. We would be docked early in the morning and wanted to be off the ship before 9a.m. At least DH was finally being civil and nice.

Day 10 ~~ Vacation is over

We got up, had breakfast, and got off the ship without too much trouble. We did have an issue with the cab driver who wanted to be paid in cash even though the company took credit cards. Finally DH told him to call another driver for us -- he decided he'd rather take our credit than have a problem. 

We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Then there was a delay -- weather between California and home. We had some snacks, played games, and finally boarded and headed home. I really like flying first class :-)  YC was almost 100% back to normal, but I made sure she took decongestant and pain reliever before flying and then shortly before landing to help with any pressure change pain. 

Animals all seemed glad to see us. Home was still standing and everything was as we left it. Nothing to do but unpack and settle in. It was going to be back to work for DH and me in just a day.

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So, there it is. Our 2010 summer family vacation. Kids and I actually had a pretty good time, spent a lot of time with each other, and when we needed alone time, we took it. I think the only person who didn't have a good time was DH and he did that to himself. 

We had fun seeing all the different sea life -- whales, dolphins, sea lions, flying fish, turtles, fish and rays in Cabo. Cabo was beautiful in a sere harsh environment way -- I wouldn't mind going there again. I enjoyed the architecture and sculptures along the waterfront in Puerto Vallarta (a few months later, when SyFy showed Sharktopus, I recognized many of the sites in Puerto Vallarta).

 

Another Year Has Passed

I hope everyone, the few of you who still are kind enough to stop by here, have had a great year, wonderful holidays, and will have a wonderful 2011.

Once again I find myself apologizing for not keeping up with blogging. Even after receiving Emily's comment :-)

I did finally get my computer back in mid-October. It had to be restored to factory defaults. And while I did save everything before sending it in, and everything seems to be back, it's not the same as it was, and probably never will be again. So, while I can do the basics, there is an underlying layer of frustration while working on it.

I decided to do NaNoWriMo again this year. Free time in October was spent planning, plotting, outlining and further prepping for the massive press of writing to be done in November. I did barely any other reading or writing during October, let alone blogging. Then came November 1st and I was off writing. Long story short :-p , 11 p.m. on 11-30 I validated my word count at just over 50k, winning NaNo for the first time (3rd time's the charm). I didn't complete a novel ~~ in fact, barely got into my story, & quite frankly most of it is crap ~~ but there's something about hitting a goal like that. And after taking December off, I'm feeling the urge to start writing and blogging again.

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Things are the usual with us. Mostly status quo, some ups, and a few downs ~~ some quite deep downs. Kids are good. We have managed to schedule a few good play days into our schedule ~~ easier since I'm at home two days a week and he can be a little flexible with his. So spankings, floggings, and wild sex do continue with some regularity.

Oldest has gotten her first college acceptance letter ~ & it includes a scholarship. We're very proud of her. We should hear from a couple of more this spring.

Son is doing pretty well ~~ except for when it comes to dealing with his dad. He's doing well enough in school, but DH never seems to be happy with it, expecting him to to get the same grades as his older sister and to have DH's same math and science abilities. Son is starting to worry about college and what if DH doesn't like his choices. DH keeps pushing him towards medical, engineering, law, etc., but son, while not awful in these areas, leans more towards creative subjects such as art, design, theatre. Son is quite a bit like me.

Youngest is growing up so fast. She's reaching that age where she doesn't look so much like a little girl anymore. She does well in school, has a best friend who she likes to hang with as much as possible and is still my snuggle buddy.

DH still travels a lot with work ~~ 1 to 2 weeks most months: Europe, North America, Central America, South America, Asia... There was talk of expanding manufacturing in Europe and moving us there, but so far not.

And me ~~ I'm still working three days in the office and two days at home. The commute is still killing me. From March until November, most of my route was congested with road work ~~ it typically took 1.5 to 2 hours to get to work or back home again. One day it took three hours to just get to work. Now that winter has arrived, my commute either direction is back down to just over an hour, unless the weather gets bad. So far I've only had one bad snow drive home that took a little over two hours. Anyway, crazy commute means by the time Friday arrives, I am completely knackered. I've been looking around for something else, since I can't afford to just quit, but there's just not much out there ~~ at least not that I can do at least reasonably well.

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I promise with the next post I will finish up our vacation story ~~ and maybe even share a few pictures.