Life Update

[ShelbyAD]

Hello Everyone.

Sorry I haven't been on in a while. Things have been crazy in my life.

Been looking for another job. Went on a few interviews, but did not get one and turned down another.

We took the girls (12 & 14) on a 7-day Caribbean cruise. They loved it! We sailed from Puerto Rico - went to: Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Maarten & St. Thomas. Some of the things we did were: Kayaking (ocean kayaking is much harder than lake kayaking), snorkeling w/ sea turtles, went on the Bring Unicorn Pirate Ship (which was in the first 2 Pirates of the Caribbean movies) :thumbsup:, swam with a dolphin, did a sea trek (walking on the ocean floor).

We started looking into buying a new house. Found out that we owe more on the house than it is worth (2 mortgages). DH got extremely stressed out over it. Now the contractor/agent thinks they have a solution for us to get the house.

Oldest step-daughter starts high school in August :faint: Youngest DSD turned 12 today! :party:

My mom is having surgery this Thursday. She doesn't have any circulation in her legs. Apparently there is an artery that goes from your stomach to your legs. The doctors are going to put a "balloon" in there to open the vessels and bring back the circulation. Good thing is that she's still young - 63, and in excellent health. She said to celebrate the fact that she will be able to walk (without pain) again she is going to WDW - thinking of this November, but maybe next November.

Well, that's been my life in a nut shell. *phew*

[offwego]

Nice to see you back. Sounds like a pretty busy time for you still!

[mtown71]

Wow...you have had a lot going on. Sounds like a lot of highs & lows. Hope things start working out for you. Let us know how the surgery goes for your mom.

[disneydeb]

Hi!:wave: It's good to "see" you again. I hope your mom is better soon. It sounds like the cruise was fun!
See you around the boards!
deb

[ShelbyAD]

The girls really enjoyed the cruise. It was the first time they had ever been on one.

OMG, the trip started off VERY bumpy.

#1 - we were doing great the morning we were leaving - in fact we were ready early and sat and watched tv for a bit. We get to the airport around 4:35am (plane leaves at 6:12am). Around 5:05am I realized that I forgot my camera :oops: Thankfully we only live 7 miles from the airport. I ran through the airport, through short term parking into long term parking. Got the car, went home, got the camera, got back to the airport, ran through long term, short term & the airport. (I am completely out of breath and had not eaten b'fast yet). DH & DSDs could not go through security b/c they had my boarding pass. We go through security (it is now 6:00am) and my carry-on gets searched. I had not flown in 4 years and the rules have changed. I had 3 items that were larger than 3 ounces. I had to be escorted out of the secured area, back into the main part of the airport. I was told to check my bag. Well that line was long, so I just threw out those items (bought on ship $$$). By the time we got on the plane it was 6:08am - plane leaves at 6:12am. *phew*. Did not eat until our lay over stop - thankfully was only a 1 hr flight.

Then we get to the ship. We were told by several people that the girls did NOT need a passport - just their birth certificates & a photo ID. As we are checking in - we were told that the girls do need a Passport. The girls had to sign a form saying that if they got sick/injured while on a nonUS territory that they would have to get medical attention on the ship. If they needed to be hospitalized (non US territory) they would not be allowed back into the USA (due to no passports).

Then they are checking their birth certificates - I'm not their mother. We (DH & I) had to sign a form saying we were not "stealing" the girls out of the country & that their mother knows that we have them.

After that, everything was fine. Did misplace the camera a couple of times, but got it back.

[mrsgaribaldi]

Welcome back:wave:
That cruise sounds like alot of fun, even with all the stress you had to go through . Was there gambling on board?

Here's some :pixie::pixie::pixie::pixie:for your mom's successful surgery and quick recovery. Please let us know how she is doing.

[ShelbyAD]

Yes, there was gambling on the ship - didn't really do any. My mom wanted me to play $1 in the slot machines for her. I did, that was it. Didn't win. Didn't really have time to play alot, plus it was all smokey :sick:

Thank you all for the pixie dust.

The kids enjoyed the ship - especially the 14 yr old. She loved being waited on hand & foot :cloud9:. She says she misses being on the ship. She just misses not having to do any cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc.