Cruising and Personal Responsibility

It’s been more than a week since we returned from our Baltics cruise and I had intended to write posts detailing our grand adventure. Trust me when I tell you that, for the most part, Hubby and I enjoyed our trip immensely. The weather was spectacular, the ship was fine, the ports and excursions were fascinating. I took lots and lots of photos and eventually I will try and post them here for your enjoyment.

So why have I been so reticent about regaling you with stories? Quite frankly, it’s because an end-of-the-trip incident occurred which has left a terrible pain in my heart. I won’t go into details but I will say that it involves the friends we were traveling with and has more than likely created irreparable schisms in our relationships that have existed for many, many years.

The saddest part is that all it would have taken to overcome this split would have been a simple “I’m sorry.” But I have disappointedly discovered that not all adults are willing take personal responsibility for their actions and own up when they have done something to hurt another. Why is it that so many adults cannot find it in themselves to say "I'm sorry"…and how truly sad is that?

The Adventure Begins...

I can hardly believe this day has finally arrived. It seems like only minutes ago we were booking our Baltic Sea cruise (it was actually last October) and now it's here. Our bags are packed and we will be driving to our friends' home to meet the airport shuttle in just a few short hours.

I promise to take lots and lots of photos to post when I get home and I'm taking my travel journal with me to record all the wonderful adventures we expect to experience. Here's hoping the weather cooperates although I know we will have a terrific time no matter what the skies do.

I hope everyone has a wonderful next two weeks and I'll "see" you soon.

Down to the Wire

It's been a hectic week as we prepare for our Baltic cruise. I've spent most of the past few days shopping for last minute items and getting some new pants shortened. I've also been playing with my new iPod trying to learn what I can about it so I can use it to hopefully email family while we're away.

I think almost everything is now in the suitcases and we did a preliminary weigh-in. One large bag weighs 45 lbs while the other big bag is weighing in at 40 lbs. Since the airline baggage weight limit is 50 lbs per bag, that gives us a total of 15 lbs to play with. I might move a few items from the heavier bag to the lighter one to even things out but it looks like we'll be safe from paying overage charges.

Along with all the trip "chores" I've been doing, my leisure time has been taken up with "social networking." Yep, I've joined a couple of very popular sites and have been searching for friends and posting tidbits about what's been going on. It isn't that I'm abandoning blogging; it's just that I wanted to try some new things for a change. And I've reconnected with several childhood friends and that's the best part of it all.

Weaving My Way to Happiness

It's one week and counting before we leave for London and today I finally get my pre-cruise haircut and weave. I haven't had a weave since just before Christmas so you can imagine how depressed I've been watching the mousy brown hair growing in...oh and, of course, those annoying gray ones too. I don't know why getting a haircut and color always lifts my spirits but I will hopefully be a happy camper later today.

In other travel news, I did a bad bad thing yesterday...I bought yet another piece of luggage. I was at T.J. Maxx and, as always, I wandered through the luggage area. Sure enough...there was a large suitcase with a built in suiter (perfect for taking formal wear) calling my name. The only thing is it's a magenta color which goes with absolutely no other suitcase we own but that didn't stop me from plunking down my money for it. How tacky will I look traveling with multiple suitcases all in different colors? And, more importantly, where the heck am I going to store this suitcase once we get back from our trip???

10 Days and Counting

Ack! We're 10 days away from our trip and I am most definitely in denial. Our suitcases still sit unopened in the corner of our bedroom; our travel clothes remain in the closet and in their shopping bags; our travel accessories remain in the plastic storage boxes. What the heck am I waiting for?

FIOS Fever

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before but Hubby is a real TV watcher. He loves sitting on the couch watching news, golf, dramas, comedies...you name it, he watches it. Me? I "watch" television with my back to the set while I'm on the computer.

So, after much dithering, Hubby finally decided to make the move to digital TV just in time for the big June conversion deadline. Actually, he'd decided some time ago to switch from Time Warner (analog cable) to Verizon FIOS. The only problem was that we had to wait for Verizon to install the fiber optic cabling in our neighborhood. Ten days ago, we went down to our local Verizon store and did all the sign up stuff.

Saturday the tech guy arrived to actually install FIOS. Along with digital TV, we also made the move from DSL to FIOS for our computer and had our telephone service converted to FIOS. We were warned that it would take 4-6 hours for the install and they weren't kidding. Thankfully, the tech arrived fairly early in the morning and was done by early afternoon.

So now we have hundreds of new channels to watch, faster computer connectivity and telephone service with a few features new to us (caller ID, Voicemail, etc.) We decided not to go with any of the pay premium movie packages but we do have the HD package so now Hubby can watch golf in high definition glory. Can you tell he's a happy camper?

Back From the Mall

Okay...I guess I should have posted this graphic a few weeks ago to explain my absence from BlogLand. I just never thought I'd be gone for such a long time.

Yes, I've been shopping like a mad woman trying to fill in wardrobe gaps for my upcoming cruise. So far I've bought pants, jeans, blouses, t-shirts, walking shoes and a few other necessities I won't mention. I honestly thought I needed nothing for this cruise but, once I looked in my closet, I realized that a few new articles of clothing wouldn't be such a bad idea. That's when my shopping mania took over.

I'm proud to admit that each and every item was bought on sale. My mantra? "Never pay retail." The best bargain were my $150 walking shoes which I picked up for a mere $12. Pretty good, huh?

Aside from shopping, not much has been happening. We celebrated my Mom's birthday and then Mother's Day and I'm spending quite a bit of time with her this month between the YMCA Aquatics classes, her multiple doctor appointments and lunches, of course.

The only other news is that Hubby and I signed up for Verizon's FIOS fiber optic phone, Hi-Def TV and computer service. Installation is scheduled for next Saturday and supposedly this will make my computer connectivity speed much much faster. Technology changes always make me a little nervous but I'm hoping everything will go well with no glitches. Fingers crossed.