Packing and Planning

I'm in the mad rush to get everything done before we leave on vacation tomorrow. I'm heading out to Indianapolis for GenCon and I'm a bit excited. In an odd move for me, I've left packing until the very end. I'm normally one of those people who starts packing the week before a vacation. I'm a bit of a planner if you couldn't tell.

So with company arriving in the next couple hours and getting ready to be gone for a week, these last two days I haven't really thought about blogging. I'll be back with plenty of pictures. There will be fun costumes everywhere. I'll also be back with some good stories. This will be a weekend to let my inner geek out to play. Embrace your geekiness is the family motto. So I'll be back next week with pure geek wonderfulness. Until then, have a fantastic week.

Stupid Messed-up Internal Clock

To my sleep deprived brain, the clock read 6:30. That would have made me late. I hate to be rushed in the morning but I jumped out of bed and hopped in the shower. It was only after I'd rushed through my entire morning routine that I realized that the clock had actually been reading 5:30. So I'm up. Early.

I have veggies to cut for a cookout we're going to tonight. I have lunch to pack to get me through the work day. I should be playing with the cat (she's been starved for attention). So the extra hour is actually a good thing. But there was a moment this morning when I realized my mistake that I just stood and said Damn. That sleep would have been nice.

But I'll have time. I have two days of work until one of the longest vacations I've ever taken. Eleven blissful days of vacation, seven of which will take place in Indianapolis for "the best four days in gaming". I'm so freaking excited that it's been hard to focus on anything else. Of course once Gen Con comes I won't get any sleep. I know me. I have a family who are early rises. A friend who's going with us is a night owl. I know I'll burn the candle at both ends. And for once, I'm cool with that. I'll sleep sometime. It clearly wasn't today.

Hide and Seek

I've been hiding recently, which would explain why it's been over two weeks since I last posted anything. Don't feel bad, I've posted to Facebook with about as much regularity and haven't read a blog in weeks. I guess I've taken an internet sabbatical, although it's not been quite as productive as a true sabbatical.

Thank you for continuing to seek me while I've been hiding. I'm still amazed that people read this blog and I appreciate your willingness to stop by and stare at the same image for a couple of days in a row. You are all wonderful, far better than I deserve. And I'm ready to post. I'm out of hiding and things are starting to look up.

First and foremost I'm starting to slow down on my reading. Since I last posted here I've read eight books. I finished two in the last three days. I'm finally reaching a point where I'm ready to come back online.

Secondly I've been going through a bit of an antisocial period. Am I the only one who has these? I go through periods where I don't really want to talk or email. I retreat into my own head for a while and do nothing more social than go to work and occasionally talk to Jeff. This has been one of the more intense antisocial periods I've had. I've had emails piling up, friends I should call, Facebook statuses to update, and all I've been doing is sitting on the couch eating chocolate and reading. Not the most productive period of time.

And lastly, although I've missed writing the blog, I've been writing other things. I'm back to writing stories which make me incredibly happy. Nothing I can talk about yet but I'll keep you posted. So with all that said, I'm back. And feeling a bit refreshed.

Alaskan Goal

As if I wasn't in enough of a hurry to be walking again, I now have a great goal to work towards. My parents are taking an Alaskan cruise in July and have invited us kids. My plan is to go if I'm walking well enough. A cruise is exciting enough but I've always wanted to see Alaska. I simply couldn't pass up the chance to go.

I've been working on rehabilitation for a bit now but I'm doubling my efforts. I do flexion exercises every night for about a half an hour. I'm increasing that to an hour now. I'm putting the suggested amount of weight on my foot so that I don't have as much of a transition once the crutches are gone. I want this recovery to go as smoothly as possible. This is just added incentive.

Jeff won't be going with me on the trip which is a source of guilt and sadness for me. It's been years since I last traveled without him and I'm not completely comfortable with the idea. I'm feeling guilty about the fact that I will have this fantastic experience while he'll miss out. And I'm sad that he won't be with me. I'm sad but not enough that I'm going to pass up a chance to see whales, glaciers, bald eagles, and the beauty that is Alaska. A trip is just what I need to be excited about getting better. I'm already doing research about our ship. And a family trip is even more exciting. If only Jeff were going it would be perfect. Well, that and walking.

A Wedding and Mexico

Okay apparently when I said last night I meant tonight.

I've had plenty of time today to write this. I finally downloaded my pictures and had some time to look through them and I realized something. The pictures I have don't do this particular place justice. They certainly don't do the wedding justice. Everything was so incredibly beautiful and my camera just didn't capture all that. It was a whirlwind trip but full of such beauty.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon without issue. The drive from the airport to the resort took about 50 minutes but our driver took it slow. Playa del Carmen is a mix of incredibly luxurious resorts and some of the most abject poverty I've seen. The road we took in was divided. The left side had some exclusive resorts with the kind of guarded gates that I've seen in luxury travel magazines. On the other side of the road, shacks and run down stores. It was an odd paradox.

Our resort was no exception to the beauty. Here is a picture of the grounds.

This is the first all-inclusive I have ever stayed in and I was not prepared for how pampered I would feel. During check-in we were presented with some rather tasty alcoholic drinks. The mini-bar (also included) was stocked with beer, soda, water, and several full sized bottles of alcohol just waiting to be tapped. The room was just gorgeous but other than sleeping we spent very little time there. The first night was not a particularly good night but considering that Jeff and I hadn't slept much the night before and had been traveling all day, we ended up in bed about 8 that night.

Jeff woke me up to see the sunrise the next morning. There is nothing more wonderful than being wrapped up on a beach chair, listening to the sound of the waves, and watching the sunrise on the beach. The day was spent sleeping on beach chairs, playing in the ocean, and hanging out with family. I walked the beach both mornings with Jeff's dad and by the end of the trip my legs were killing me. The rehearsal dinner was that night but both Jeff and I were exhausted again and ended up in bed by 10.

The next day was the wedding. The resort had set up chairs and a wedding arch on the beach. It was a fabulous setting. I spent the morning walking the beach with dad, playing in the kiddy pool with my niece and nephew, and looking for Jeff. He and I managed to lose each other from morning until the wedding at three. I have to say that if Jeff and I were ever to get married again, this is how I would do it. To be able to attend a wedding, with drink in hand, and bare feet is just perfection. I took pictures and watched the kids and enjoyed the wedding. Everyone on the beach stood and watched. It was a wonderful moment. Here is a picture of the wedding party. I should download the professional ones but for right now you'll have to make due with my amateur ones.

After the wedding we sat in the lobby bar and had drinks until dinner. We ate at the resort's steakhouse (they had five restaurants). Then the bride and groom celebrated their marriage with a quick dip in the pool.

Jeff and I headed back to the room about 11 and went to sleep fast. We were both up by 2 since we had a transport coming for us at 4. The trip back to the airport in Cancun was much less slow and much less enjoyable. The driver drove like a maniac and with us being in the far back seat it was a bumpy ride. We did get there much faster than the trip in but I was a bit nauseous. The flight out of Cancun was great but getting out of Atlanta was a little more problematic. We ended up home about 3 hours after we were scheduled to. It was seven by the time we were finally home and Misty was thrilled to see us.

All and all it was a wonderful trip. The resort was beautiful, the all-inclusive part was fabulous, and the time spent hanging out was a lot of fun. It took me a couple days to recover but I'm so glad I went. Congrats guys. And thanks for a great trip.

Been Missing

I'm back. Okay I've actually been back in the country since late Sunday night. I've been mentally back in the game since last night.

I have tons of pictures to show you from Mexico. It was gorgeous. Truly beautiful. The resort was incredible, the all-inclusive aspect was wonderful, and the wedding was very pretty (enough adjectives?). And I've been meaning to post pictures and write about the trip but I just haven't been in the mood. Monday I spent the whole day with my aunt and uncle who were visiting. Tuesday I began kicking myself to sit down and write. So yesterday morning, after enough kicking, I decided that I would make this an extended blog vacation. I wouldn't post until I felt ready to. I wouldn't feel pressure to produce. I don't ever want this blog to feel like a job, a chore, something I have to do. Rather it should be something I'm excited to do.

All this week I've been coming home at night and crashing. I lay on the couch and stuff my face until I finally fall asleep. It's been hell on my mood and completely unproductive. I decided to change things up yesterday. Last night I sat on the couch and read. I watched TV and knit. I read more. And sometime last night a switch was thrown. I felt like myself again. I woke up this morning invigorated. I found at least three things I wanted to talk about just this morning alone. And I figured it was time to break my silence. A week and a half is a pretty long time for me to go without writing (or at least blog writing. I wrote free-hand all trip long). So this is just to say I'm back. I am composing in my head a post about the wedding and the trip that I'll post tonight. With pictures.

What's this 40 hour thing?

I'm in an insanely good mood today. I practically bounced out of bed this morning at 6:30. I'm humming while I work. I have lunch plans with a friend of mine. It's going to be a good day.

Of course most of this is the fact that I only work two days this week. I'd say that today is my Thursday but since I didn't work any of the previous days it doesn't really seem like Thursday. Wednesday is a state holiday and Thursday I wake up incredibly early to board a plane to Mexico. Can you tell I'm a little excited? Even with such a short trip (we're back on Sunday) I'm excited to spend some time hanging out on a beach with family. I'll post pictures when I get home. It doesn't seem real yet but having the rest of the week off keeps reminding me how soon I'm traveling.

And my short weeks don't end there. I'm back home but I'm taking Monday off just to relax. It actually worked out well since my favorite aunt and uncle will be in town that day and I will plan to see them for lunch. Then I have the four days next week of work. Followed of course by Thanksgiving week. So I only work three days that week. I don't have another full 5 day work week until December. How can I not be in a good mood with that type of schedule? Now all I have to do is get through today and tomorrow.

On the blog side please be aware that I will be posting today and tomorrow but won't be writing anything for the rest of the week. I'll plan to post pictures and descriptions when I get back but I'm not guaranteeing anything until next Monday or Tuesday. I'm taking this trip as a break from everything. I'll be back rested and refreshed with some new content and hopefully a bit of a tan. Hope you have half as good a week as I'm having. Or at least a good day.

Found Photo

I was digging through the numerous photos I've saved on my hard-drive at work and stumbled into this one. I hadn't seen it in a while. And the memories come flooding back. Jeff and I were driving around Providenciales (Turks and Caicos islands) and found this lonely stretch of road that wound up onto a hill. We were surrounded by luxury homes on this dirt one-lane path but no people. We stopped, set up a tripod, and took this shot. There was not another soul to be seen and behind us this beautiful blue sea. It's one of my favorite pictures of the two of us. Just thought I'd share. Amazing trip.

I have not fallen off the face of the earth

Although lately it feels like it. I have been bad about blogging, not even logging in all weekend. In fact, I didn't even check my email this weekend. Instead I worked. A good chunk of the weekend. These last three weeks at work have been very busy. I have more projects than I know what to do with. Normally I don't have to work on the weekend but this was an exception. I'll work next weekend as well. Why? Because I'm sailing off into the sunset. In two weeks. So I have to pay my dues now. 

When I finished my Masters, Jeff asked me what I wanted as a gift. I said that I wanted a cruise. I've always wanted to take a cruise. As I've mentioned before I'm pretty sure I was a pirate or a sailor in my previous life. I love the ocean and I particularly love boats. The thought of being miles from shore on a boat makes me incredibly excited. Now add a 24 hour buffet and two of the most beautiful ports I could imagine and you can sense my excitement. 

This trip has been a year and a half in the making. We have had it booked since December. I read more about cruise ships in that time then I did for my final papers in school. I wanted to make the right choice. We're sailing on Royal Caribbean and I think we did pretty well. I'm stopping in Key West, to see Hemingway's home. In Cozumel for snorkeling and shopping. And Belize for the jungles and Mayan ruins. 

But mostly I'm just excited to be out at sea. Ever since I was young I wanted to learn to sail. I have a dream of owning a boat and sailing the Caribbean on a live aboard. And for the first time I get a chance to go to bed completely surrounded by water and wake up the same way. We no longer believed that the world is flat but I would love to think I'm sailing to the ends of the earth. Or at least the ends of the Caribbean. 

By the way, this will be our home in two weeks. Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas. Can anyone say floating resort? (again a "borrowed picture". I'll have some of my own when I come back.)