Matters of the Mind

8:33:02 PM PDT

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4:06:52 PM PDT

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3:48:00 PM PDT

I have had some questions regarding our cruise experience.  This was the 4th cruise I have been on.  DH and I went on a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise about 10 years ago,  I went on a 4 day Bahamas cruise about 8 years ago, a 7 day Mexico Cruise 2 years ago and now the Hawaiian Cruise.  The first was a Carnival cruise, then 2 Royal Caribbean Cruises and this last one was a NCL Cruise. 

Once you are on the cruise everything is NOT covered.  If you want soda, water or alcoholic beverages you pay for them and are asked to tip the bartender or wait staff. You are allowed to bring your own soda or water onto the ship BUT not allowed to bring alcohol on the ship. Most ships have a deal where you pay a price (about $35) and get a sticker on your card, with that you can get as much soda as you want.  Also any side trips you take off the ship, you have to pay to take them, esp. if they are booked through the cruise line.  On this past cruise to Hawaii, the side trips were pretty expensive and the ports were in industrial areas for the most part so you really needed to sign up for a trip or rent a car or taxi.  Other cruises we have been on, you are able to walk off the ship and the ports have things to do so unless you want to do something special side trips are not required to be booked through the cruise line.  All your food is included in the cruise, although you will be asked to tip your waitstaff afterwards.  Some people skip eating in the sit down dining rooms so they don't have to tip the waitstaff but the better food is definitely in those dining rooms.  The buffet is just that, a buffet and the food is pretty mediocre, generally leftovers from the dining room during the week cooked in a new fashion.  We enjoyed the food in the dining room on our last cruises and this cruise the food was okay as well.  The NCL cruise was a "freestyle" cruise.  On this cruise they had a few restaurants in which you had to make reservations and then each person was charged a set price ($5 or $10) and you get a little bit better meal.  There was no assigned seating time as on other cruises.  The premium restaurants were very good and the service exceptional in them, but of course the wait staff was getting a tip if they did a good job. 

Tipping is suggested for the waitstaff and the housekeepers and any other people you feel deserve a tip.  On this Hawaiian NCL cruise, they automatically charged us $10/person/day for the housekeeping staff.  Truthfully I don't think they did a good enough job to warrant that, but we didn't have a choice on that matter.  Maybe they didn't work as hard on this cruise because they knew they were going to get it.  On other cruises you leave a tip for the housekeepers in an envelope on your last day, so they work hard because they know they will get a better tip if they do.  In general, I felt the staff on this NCL cruise wasn't as friendly or efficient as they have been on other cruises we've taken. 

This cruise didn't seem like they had very good activities set up for the kids.  When we went to Mexico, the kids loved the activities that they had and were disappointed that we got off the ship some days to go on side trips.  The ship also didn't have any full days at sea so when they were in port there were no activities happening on the ship. 

We enjoyed Hawaii very much and would go back, but we would stay in a hotel there rather than take a cruise.  We didn't feel like we had enough time at any one port to take advantage of some of the things to do in the towns.  We never got a beach day in, which I was disappointed about.  Our side trips included one day of hiking, going on ziplines and playing in swimming holes; another day we went to Volcanoe National Park; we went on a tiki boat another day in which they had hula dancers and a Hawaiian band; a luau one night; and a trip to a historic whaling town another day. 

Pictures will be in my next entry. 

 

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8:04:46 AM PDT

Why is it that "short" weeks always seem longer than regular weeks?  This week seemed to go on forever. 

Last weekend was nice and relaxing, a good way to end the summer.  Saturday the girls and I went to see the movie "Accepted" - the only movie out that was at a local theater, both girls could see, and we all agreed on. The latter being the hardest one to accomplish.  It was pretty funny, but also had a nice message behind it, I thought.  Sunday we had a cookout with our neighbors and just hung out for a couple of hours.  Both days, DH spent time cleaning out the garage and making it walkable instead of trippable.  He keeps talking about getting a shed for the backyard to hold all our yard equipment, but he wants the "perfect" shed.  ??????  I keep telling him it's only a shed.  He is so weird sometimes.  Monday we took a day trip to a beautiful spot called Snoqualmie Falls.  It is about an hour away from us and the drive was very relaxing also.  We hiked from the top of the falls to the bottom, ignoring the sign that it was about 1 mile of steep incline.  Not bad going down, but going up was another matter.  Let's just say I am extremely out of shape . . . puff, puff, puff. 

The girls started school on Tuesday.  Kath had a full day, Laura didn't start until 12:30 - so for her it was get schedule, find classes and go home.  A friend talked her into going to check out the golf team (she has NEVER played real gold before). So afterschool I picked her up, drove she and her friend to the golf club - about a 30 minute drive - and went home. At 6 PM she called to let me know they were done, so I drive back, pick them up, drop friend off and come home - another hour RT.  I logged about 3 hours in the car with all the drop-offs and pick-ups Tuesday. Laura decided against the golf team.  Kath had a great first day and is looking forward to school this year.  Her school is rather small, about 400 students, so she knows many of the kids in her classes and her best friend is in every single class with her. 

Wednesday, Laura had a full day of school, Kath had a late start.  I grocery shopped, mowed the lawn and did some laundry.  I picked Laura up after school and she seemed very down, she said "just tired".  This year she is in courses with all Jrs and Srs and she is only a Sophomore.  She is a little down because she doesn't know many people in 2 of her classes and doesn't have lunch with her good friends.  I know that will resolve itself and she will find people to eat with and get some acquaintances/friends in her classes but it's hard to see when you are a teen in that situation.

Thursday, after getting the girls off to school I had a dentist appointment.  I have decided to finally bite the bullet and make my smile prettier.  For years I have had a dead front tooth and it is much yellower than my other teeth, which are all pretty stained.  My appointment Wednesday was the first of many.  I went in to get my teeth "zoomed".  It is not a fun thing to do truthfully, and I am still debating whether to go thru with the veneers.  Is my vanity worth it?  The next part of the procedure involves getting my teeth "shaved" and getting fitted for veneers.  First they put on temporary veneers while the permanents are getting made.  Two weeks later I go back and get the permanent ones installed.  This takes a few hours, maybe 2 each visit.  The zooming took about 90 minutes and I had a very hard time sitting there that long - they wanted to go 15 more minutes but I declined. I got to feeling very claustrophic.

After school I picked up the girls and they both had appointments for physicals.  Both are healthy, Laura got two vaccines - one a tetanus booster and one a meningacoccal shot, to prevent  bacterial meningitis.  They are trying to innoculate all kids 11 and older for this by 2008, Kath didn't want the shot yet, said she'll get it in 2008 - I didn't feel like arguing about it. 

Yesterday was a waste of a day.  I couldn't drink coffee, so I was very fuzzy most of the day and started getting a migraine by about 2 PM.  I came home after picking up Laura from school and took a nap, I am so lucky I have that option.  Laura was also feeling icky, had a headache and said her back hurt really bad.  She took some aspirin and vegged on the sofa.  When I got up, Laura was feeling worse and had a temp., we are hoping it is a reaction from the shot(s) and she is not getting sick.  I gave her a dose of ibuprofen in the evening and her temp went down.  We'll see how she is doing this morning.  Basically the whole family had that first week of school exhaustion, so the girls are sleeping pretty late today. 

I know I promised pictures from our trip and I will still post them.  Now I also have pics from Snoqualmie falls as well.  Soon, soon. 

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3:53:23 PM PDT

I know, I know, it's been longer than 8 days since I posted.  Yes, we are back from our cruise around the Hawaiian Islands. I will just post some pictures from parts of the trip and go into more detail later.

We arrived.

Got on the ship, Pride of Aloha, in Honolulu.

Our first excursion was in Nawiliwili to a big ranch.  This is one of the waterfalls on the ranch.

Some adventure.

Volcano National Park

Wildlife

More wild life.

A beautiful sunset.

More to come.

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8:25:36 PM PDT

Son is home . . .

Mail and newspaper are stopped. . .

Dogs are at the kennel . . .

Bags are packed . . .

After a few hours sleep. . .

We will get up and get on our 6 a.m. flight . . .

Land in San Francisco to get on our 8 a.m. flight . . .

Land in Honolulu to get on the ship . . .

To have some Hawai'in fun.

See you all in about 8 days.

 

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8:07:20 AM PDT

This past week plus flew by rather quickly.  I went to visit and help with my mom on Friday the 11th.  She had major surgery the Sunday before and was still in the hospital.  When I got there she was still on IV nutrition, had an antibiotic IV and a pain killer IV, which she pushed a button when needed.  On Saturday, they had started her on a "soft diet" but she still had the liquid nutrition going.  The DR. who visited her in the morning told her she'd be released, so she was waiting and waiting.  I was with her until about 1 or 2 after they told us it wouldn't be until about 6 PM when she would get out.  I went to her house to get things ready, clean up some, grocery shop, wash her sheets, etc.  While I was gone the surgeon visited and told her that her blood sugar was very low so they wanted to keep her in longer. She was very disappointed but better safe than sorry.

Sunday morning I went back and they had given her more solid food, not so soft and took her nutrition off, as well as the push button pain and antibiotic.  They were giving her pills for the antibiotic and pain now.  This time the surgeon was there when I was, so I got to meet and question him some.  Now he said her white count was elevated but they were still going to let her go home.  I asked about her path labs on the tumors and he said "Oh yeah, they came back both are benign at this point but they wanted to do more testing on the stomach tumor because it had some irregular cells in it."  I also asked about the diverticulitus they found when they did the surgery.  He said, "Oh I forgot about that, that is probably the cause of the high white blood cell count."  He also said she needs to have that checked out further and that she may need surgery for that in a year or so. 

After he gave the word that she was to be released things moved fast.  The nurse came in with the paperwork, and took out the IV hook up which they had left in her arm just in case.  I helped her get dressed and then she was wheeled out within an hour.  I got her home and settled and she was very happy to be there.

Big thunder and rain storm Sunday evening after we got home.  When we watched the news that night, the hospital mom where mom was got flooded.  They had to close the operating rooms the next day.  I"m so glad we got out when we did.

The rest of the week, I helped mom around the house, ran some errands for her, she insisted on getting her hair done (so she must be feeling better), and generally just was there to let her not worry about things and let her rest.  She was still quite sore, mostly because she is using her back and leg muscles now rather than her stomach muscles.  She has about 50 staples all down the front of her. 

I flew home yesterday mid morning.  Everyone seemed very happy to see me, DH, kids and dogs.  Now to prepare for our trip on Sunday.  We leave for the airport bright and early about 4 a.m. since our flight leaves at 6 a.m.

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7:29:22 AM PDT

We are having what is considered stereotypical "Seattle weather" today.  It is gray and drizzly out.  Good sleeping weather, if one is able to do that all day.  Poor DH is having a very hard time with getting up an hour earlier for his new job.  He was always saying he would like another hour to sleep when he got up at 6:30, well now at 5:30 it's really hard for him.  Of course, the dogs are now used to the earlier wake up time and are getting up then even on the weekends.

Both girls are now home.  An exhausted Laura made it home on Saturday afternoon.  She had an excellent time at her 3 week Creative Writing Institute.  She made friends from all over the country and world.  They have all been emailing, IMing and text messaging since Sunday.  She was IMing with a boy from Ecuador on Monday and yesterday she was text messaging with a girl from Italy.  Isn't technology wonderful?!  She is also talking about possibly applying to Stanford when it comes time for college applications - she now has a goal to work toward.

Katherine arrived home on Monday around noon.  She had a nice trip and I probably heard every detail of it on the ride home from the airport.  That girl certainly has the gift for gab.  The noise level certainly went up since she has gotten home.  She can't stay still for very long, that's for sure.  The afternoon she got home she had a friend from the neighborhood over to play for the rest of the afternoon.  Yesterday she called another friend who came over last night and spent the night. 

Mom had her surgery on Sunday early morning.  She ended up having two surgeries at once.  One surgeon had to operate from the belly button up to remove the tumor they found in the her stomach and the other surgeon worked from the belly button down to remove the tumor they found in her pelvic region.  So far we haven't heard any lab results about the tumors.She will remain in the hospital for at least another week.  It is going to be a long, slow recovery for her, but so far so good.  They had her sitting up for a little while yesterday. 

I am heading out to Albuquerque on Friday to help where I am able to help.  I will be there until the following Thursday, giving me enough time to get everyone at home ready for our cruise.  If I need to go back and help more after our cruise, I will do that.  My aunt (mom's sister) is talking about flying out and helping after I leave. 

Hope everyone has a wonderful day, where ever you may be.

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4:21:17 PM PDT

Yesterday, while waiting to find out news about my mom, I was watching The Dog Whisperer DVD that I got from Netflix.  The Dog Whisperer is named Cesar Milan and he helps people with "problem dogs" to get the dogs to behave properly.  The problems could be neurotic things, like one dog was always looking for the "light" all day long and one ran in circles all the time, or they could be aggressive behavior towards people and other dogs.  It is pretty amazing because most times Cesar is able to go in and get the dogs to behave in a few minutes.  Usually it is a matter of making sure the dog has enough exercise (for the neurotic dogs) or making sure the dog knows who is the boss and that the boss is always in control (for all dogs).  He says you have to give the dog your calm, positive energy and they will sense that and be the same way.  It was both fun to watch and interesting as well. 

Here are pictures of my problem pups.

Shaggy Hobbes

Shaggy Winnie

And the not so shaggy pups

I got news about my mom this morning, thanks to my sister Heather, and the Dr. found a tumor in mom's stomache near her esophagus.  Mom will need to have surgery in the next couple of days since it is still bleeding.  Please think positive thoughts for her.  I spoke to her this morning and she actually sounds great.  She was happy and joking.  Heather was going to try to take my baby, Katherine, to visit her grandma today.  Kath said she could handle it because she watches lots of medical shows on TV.  She does watch them actually and she seems to be able to stomach them whereas I have to turn my head during some of the gorier operations.  Katherine loves the Discovery channel.

Today I went out to try to get the battery in my watch replaced.  Neither DH or I could get the back off of the watch, he said to just buy a new one, but I like my watch and want it to work. So off I went, first stop a Fred Meyer in town.  Sorry they can't get the back off either, they could send it to their watch guy who is at a Fred Meyer a couple of miles down the road, but that would take 3 weeks.  Thanks, but no thanks, I'll drive it myself.  I decided to check out a craft fair in town.  It was nice but those things are more fun to wander around with someone, so off I went to the other Fred Meyer.  The watch guy is on vacation and won't be back until Tuesday, so I left my watch and will be heading back there on Tuesday.  In the meantime I decided to buy myself another watch, so I have a spare and don't feel so nekkid. 

Laura gets home tomorrow, I am looking forward to that!

Happy Weekend.

 

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2:02:31 PM PDT

I finally took some more recent pictures of the yard.  As you can see the plants are starting to fill in some, but we still need to plant lots more.  I think we'll do more planting at the end of September/beginning of October before it gets too cold. 

We are having a rather mellow week in our household.  Laura is at her last week at Stanford.  She gets home on Saturday.  I'll find out more about the week then.  She has been sending me sweet but short emails.  The cell phone we got her for her trip does not work at her dorm.  It does seem to work on other parts of campus though, because she called on Sunday when she needed help with some game they were playing.  They had to run around campus and solve brain teasers to find where their next clue was located. 

I had dinner with Daniel on Tuesday night.  I drove up to see him in the afternoon and took him shopping for some clothes, so he'd have some decent shorts etc. for our cruise to Hawaii.  We had a nice dinner.  I have been a little concerned about Daniel for various reasons and feel a little better.  Not 100% yet, but about 50%. 

Katherine left Monday to visit with my mom and my sister in Albuquerque.  Unfortunately Grandma got sick the night Katherine got there, so rather than staying with Grandma, Kath is staying at my sisters.  She is having fun with her cousin Maddie though, and finding out what it's like to be a big sister.  Today my sister had to take my mom to the hospital, because she got worse overnight and started throwing up blood.  They are at the hospital now waiting for tests to be done to find out what is wrong with her.  She had ot have 4 units of blood because she had lost so much.  Thank goodness my sister was there to take her to the hospital and stay with her while she is there.  Please keep her in your thoughts that she gets better quickly. 

DH is still adjusting to his new job.  Unfortunately he has no computer connection at work and his office is located in the show room so he feels not in control.  He has to come home and read and respond to work emails.  He said he also wants to be able to get stuff accomplished right away but he still needs to learn the way things work there.

 

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