Keeping a promise..............................

Always wanting to share the joy of my blog, I told several people about it while on vacation. One person in particular was interested in what I would have to say about him in the blog. I explained the fact that I choose not to use real names, and told him that I would be referring to him as "eighteen" which was the case that he picked during the game of deal or no deal that we attended while on the ship.

The way the game was played was first a game of bingo was played (at $10 a card or 3 for $20) and then the winner of the bingo game went up on stage and played a game of deal or no deal for big money (a thousand one game, and two thousand the next game). When I play along at home I am usually pretty good at picking the winning case, but this particular time eighteen picked a case with more money in it than I had in my case, which happen to be the same case the contestant picked. Lucky for her she took the deal and ended up with more than the three hundred dollars that was in our case.

In talking with eighteen, I found out that he was a fellow Dave Ramsey listener. Listener that is, to most of Dave's principals. You see, eighteen flips houses and uses credit to do so. Dave recommends that all real estate deals be done with cash to lower the risk. Eighteen seems to think that this would take too long to build up a fortune so he opts out on this piece of "Dave advise." I've got to say that I had a good time poking fun at him about this, even though I also have selective hearing when it comes to Dave's advice...

I have no problem not using credit cards (or any other loans for that matter). In fact today/this month marks the four year anniversary of our not using credit. We are working the debt snowball, paying off off our bills smallest to largest except for the one bill that we put the temperpedic beds for the OPs on since that interest is a business expense and tax deductible. Dave would understand the reasoning behind that now wouldn't he? NOT!

Since I met eighteen on a cruise ship, it is also apparent that I am not following Dave's advice to not take any vacations until we are out of debt. My rational for that is the fact that I have a twenty-four/seven business in my home and if I don't get away from the business from time to time I will not be a quality caregiver. I think of my vacations as business expenses. Right?

The one other thing we do even though Dave says not to, is to continue to contribute to (my) Mister's 401K plan. His company matches 2 to 1 and we are not spring chickens anymore. Since we will be out of debt within six months it doesn't make sense to stop it just to start it again in such a short time now does it? Or so I rationalize.

Okay, so I have no room to talk about eighteen using credit to finance his deals, as I have not drunk the kool-aid myself when it comes to Dave's principals. That is the thing about humans and free-will choice. We get really good at hearing and seeing what we want to see and hear and just as good at ignoring what we don't want to see and hear. It only becomes an issue when things don't turn out the way we thought they were going to. When that happens we are full of "if onlys and I should haves" until we figure out how to rationalize the way things turned out into being "the way we wanted them to turn out all along."

On a more positive note............................

I found the below information in one of the raw food newsletters I receive and thought I would share it in case any of you would be interested in joining in. It is a proven fact that there is power in prayer, and the more people praying the more powerful the prayer. Here is a chance to join in and make a difference:


One Minute Every Night

In WWII there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every night at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England , its people and peace. There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America.

If you would like to participate: Each evening at 9:00 pm Eastern Time 8:00 PM Central) (6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a Godly nation.

If you know anyone who would like to participate, please pass this along. Someone said if Christians really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have.

Together, we "CAN" make a difference!
Thank You, and God Bless America !

There's no place like home...........................

Even though I had a fabulous time while I was away, I am thrilled to be home again. (my) Mister did such a good job of taking care of things in my absence, that he thinks the OPs didn't even realize I was gone. I really must find a "WORLDS BEST HUSBAND" contest to enter him in, as I know he would win hands down (and then be happy to give me the prize money to spend on my next vacation).

I am sorry to say that I did not see the three people I was hoping to see, but the spirit of New Orleans is alive and well. Everyone I talked with was hopeful that in time things would return to the old normal. As you can see from the above pictures, a lot of the art work expresses the frustration that the entire city feels regarding the way things have been handled. It was good to see first hand how they are bouncing back.

So today is devoted to getting back into the rhythm of life, and to begin unpacking. My clothes are not going to know what to do when they are back in their normal resting places since they have been packed in a suitcase for the last month. It will be interesting to see how long it takes before I stop going to the suitcase whenever I need to change clothes.

I missed reading all of the blogs I follow, so before I unpack I am going to go check in with a few, at a slow, leisurely pace without worrying about the Internet minutes. It's so good to be home where I am loved and spoiled.

Fly away................................

Keep me in your thoughts today as I make my way back home. We did tons of walking yesterday, met an actual Voodoo Priestess, had an angel reading, and my legs feel a lot better than yesterday.

I was also able to talk with my sister, and she is doing well. She is learning how to apply the bag used for urine collection, and the docs said all of the biopsies came back negative for cancer in other areas. Thanks for all your good wishes and prayers for her.

Okay, gotta fly (pun intended). Will share more about my trip tomorrow.

We were awesome.............................................

This post is going to be a short one (but I had to write something because I know you are all waiting to hear how we did), because I am going to bed despite the fact that it is only 6:30 in the evening. My legs/butt are not at all happy with me right now, but they will get over it in a day or two.

My oldest finished the race in two hours and four minutes and I crossed the finish line at two hours and thirty minutes. Not the time I had hoped to make, but still eight minutes off my last half-marathon race time so I am pretty happy with it. It was a really fun race and I had a terrific time so that is what is really important.

We are staying in New Orleans one more day and then it is back to the real world. Hope all is well with all of you.

Can it be Friday already?..............................

They say time flies when you’re having fun, and it would seem that I have proven that statement, and because of that fact am have a small panic attack this morning. After all the walking I did for my shore excursions along with the fact that I hate taking the elevators (I can’t stand the notion of people thinking I am a slacker don’t ya know?) my legs are feeling pretty tired at the moment. Tired legs going into a race is not a good thing, so I have vowed to use the elevators, like it or not, and my big plans for today and tomorrow are to lay around so I am sure that I will be fine by Sunday. Oh ya, I have placed myself on restrictions; NO heels (except for dinner) no matter how bad my outfit might look in my flat sandals. Say a prayer that I am successful at resting my legs so that during the race I might focus on my prayer list instead of how crappy/tired my legs feel.

I continue to be having a blast, and my angels continue to send people into my days at just the right moment. My first excursion, I got on the bus and just before take off a real sweetie from New Orleans ask if he might sit in the empty seat beside me. I am sure I was a bad influence on him because we spent the tour laughing more than we did listening to the tour guide. Can I help it if I have ADHD and am easily distracted? And just in case anyone out there is interested, he is forty-two, successfully self-employed, and available (Check him out in the pic above). He was on the cruise with his family, celebrating his parent’s fiftieth wedding anniversary. His dad is experiencing a pretty significant health decline so I educated him about hospice and he was very appreciative, being a caring, concerned son. Oh ya, and he has never been married so he doesn’t that the baggage that goes along with that. So, if anyone out there is interested, let me know quick and I will ask my angels to find him for me before I get off the ship, since I have not ran into him since the excursion ended.

Enough about cruising for now, I need a favor…
I have been keeping a pretty serious situation under wraps for a few weeks now because it has been really hard to even think about let alone talk about. My sister (the one that had a heart attack last May, you know the only sister that I have left, the sister that I can’t even imagine not having in my life) was diagnosed with bladder cancer several weeks back. Her urologist went in and removed the mass from her bladder, but it had grown into the wall of the bladder so yesterday she underwent an operation to have her bladder removed as well as having a new one fashioned out of part of her intestines. (Nope! I didn’t know that one could live without a bladder either, but thank goodness I was wrong.) My niece-in-law (her son’s fiancé) let me know through e-mail that she came through the surgery and now the recovery phase begins. Please keep her in her prayers that things will progress just the way they are suppose to and that her body adapts to the new situation without serious trauma to her body, mind, and spirit. Thanks for your support guys, I don’t know what I would do without you.

Sorry about the format, I don't want to waste minutes figuring out what happen when I cut and pasted so deal with it for now okay?

High seas Tuesday……………………….

Since I am on vacation, I opted to NOT set an alarm and managed to sleep in until six this morning. Unbelievable as it seems I was still the only person on the track jogging at 6:30. I figured the place would be crowed by that time.

After my run, I went to a stretching class and a yoga class. I am lovingly referring to the (guy) instructor as the yoga mat Nazi (as in the “soup Nazi”) as he made us all sit on a chair why he got out and arranged all the mats just so, and then wouldn’t let anyone take care of them after the class. Who can say OCD?

After the classes I went to breakfast, but everyone else was up by this time so the line was too long to stand in just for food, there was sun out there waiting to be soaked up! I will just get an early lunch. I ate a pear and drank coffee while chatting with a guy here on his honeymoon. Isn’t he just the sweetest husband letting his new wife sleep in? Of course, had that been me, I would have woke up pissed because, oh I don’t know, what is it two newly married people are suppose to be doing on a honeymoon, and you go off and leave me alone just because I am still sleeping! Said honeymoon is OVER HONEY, go sleep on one of the lounge chairs on deck! He was my age, so maybe they got married for other reasons than so they could do it like rabbits. You think?

Land-ho………………………………....

As I type this, it is Wednesday and we will soon be stopping in Costa Maya to spend the day there.

Just to catch you up, I finally had tea yesterday. I say finally because I have been going to do that each time I cruised and never got around to it. The other thing that I think is kind of interesting is that being here alone, I am changing my clothes more than I ever did on the other cruises. Normally I haul all kinds of stuff and take most of it home un-worn. I have already worn seven of the eight pair of shoes I brought with me, which totally makes me wonder why I didn’t bring more. Next time! I think the reason I am able to play dress up more than usual must be because I have more free time. Translation…I am not spending time running around the ship trying to hook up with someone in my group. It is kind of nice to not have to worry about anyone’s happiness/well being for a change!
Okay, I am going to get on line and post the update now. Of course they charge an arm an a leg for internet hook up, so I type on works and then cut and paste it into the blog. See, I really do know how to stretch a buck…Get on, get off, and answer any comments/catch up on blogs when I get back home.

Vacation bound…………………………

I am about to make every single one of you jealous, so don’t say I didn’t warn you!

I got up this morning and right after I got done hiding my sticky notes for my youngest and (my) Mister to find I got a HUGE surprise of my own.

My youngest had left ME sticky notes on all of my luggage. They said:

Have a safe flight, a great trip, and an awesome run. I (then a picture of a) heart my mommy

Hope you have a blast !! (with a smiley face under the exclamation points) Enjoy the sun for me.

DON’T forget the souvenirs !! (another smiley)

RUN PROUD! RUN STRONG!
I’ll be missing you (with hearts and sad faces floating around)

And on top of that (my) Mister got up with me at 2:30 in the morning so that he could load my luggage and give me a proper good-bye kiss.

AM I NOT THE LUCKIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD?

I am currently killing a bit of time until the bus comes to take me to the ship, so I wanted to share that with you. I will continue with my adventures at some point today and then get logged on and post everything so you can share in the fun.

Oh! Almost forgot to tell you the MOST important thing…All eight pairs of shoes arrived (along with the rest of my stuff) in one piece. Can you believe I am going to be gone for nine days and limited myself to only eight pair? It was tough, but I think I will be able to manage somehow.

Cruising down the Mississippi…………………

I have been having a blast asking people to take pictures of me. Normally I hate getting my picture taken, but what fun are vacation places of places and not people? Since it is only me, what other choice do I have? Maybe I will just start taking pictures of other people and give them names. After all, you don’t know who I know so how will you know if I REALLY know them?

As you can tell by the pic with me in the life jacket, we had a boat drill, and we are now on our way. Remember hearing about entire boat full of people getting sick while cruising? I was thrilled to see the new addition of paper by the bathroom (stall) doors for our use. That is one of my worst pet peeves, when I wash my hands and then have to open the door with my shirt as there is no paper towels to open the door with and once you touch the door that someone else just touched you are all germy again. YUCK!

I managed to run a couple of miles before boat drill, so I am going to go take a shower and then it is time for sushi! The only time I ever eat it is on a cruise ship, and nothing raw for me thanks, only veggies.

When I got to the sushi bar, I met four young guys in their twenties and we shared a table. After we finished eating, I talked them into posing for a picture with me. You will have to wait to see it until I get home becasue I don't have any way of loading it onto my computer.

Be checking in soon!