Ugh *sniffle* *cough*

I just love daycare induced colds, don't you? Our precious little Lauren has become a carrier of infectious diseases the likes of which would make the Four Horsemen run in horror. Of course, she is unaffected by all of this. She would prefer to remain a carrier I guess. Thanks sweetie!
I am now sucking down Halls like they are Tic Tacs and hoping my throat doesn't spontaneously combust during a cough. Happy Tuesday everyone!

Bermuda: Day 4

The remnants of Hurricane Franklin passed over Bermuda on day 4 so we got a lot of rain and some good gusts of wind, but nothing real scary or dangerous. We tried walking around the town of Hamilton, but there weren't a whole lot of covered walkways so when the rain picked up, we headed back to the boat. It was then my task to head back out into this tempest because Debbie wanted to send her parents a postcard. FYI, sending a postcard from Bermuda to the US costs $0.75 and requires 2 stamps which essentially cover half the postcard.
Here's the other thing about Bermuda, they accept American money no problem, but like to give change in Bermuda money when they can. So, you have to be sure and ask for American change back or you could get Bermudian money. In the US, Bermudian money has about as much worth as Monopoly money ... or Canadian.
Since we were docked, I thought the boat rocking would stop, but was I wrong. Oh, the boat was pretty stable. It was I who had problems remaining upright. I knew it was me because I had a sensation of rocking while walking around Bermuda. While it is an island, I'm pretty sure the land there remains fairly stable. I realized this would be my lot for the rest of the trip. If the boat wasn't rocking, I would think it was. If it was rocking, I would get sick. If our room was rocking, then don't come a knockin'. :)

From the "What were They Thinking" Department

Driving to work and listening to 101.9, I usually hear a commercial for a Toyota car sale. Normally, this isn't anything worth writing about, but something about this commercial has irked me from the moment I heard it. Why is the background music "What would you do with a drunken sailor"? They try to disguise it by using an orchestra, but everytime I hear this commercial, I keep singing that song. Then I think "Why would I buy a drunken sailor a Toyota Sienna?"

My Life as a Morning Person begins.

Our first day in the new lifestyle went fairly smoothly. There were no major catastrophes, but I did notice something that might be cause for concern in the future. While I got ready this morning, I turned on the TV to entertain Lauren while she was in her Pack N Play. No problems there, except when I was all ready to go. I discovered that I was more interested in the program on TV than Lauren was. This is not a good sign. I got enthralled in the saga of the Hopping Hinckleyville Frogs. Hinckleyville has a big parade celebrating these frogs as the are led through town to a bog on the other side. But, the streamers and confetti caused too many problems and the frogs got stuck. See ... don't YOU want to know how? I certainly did. Lauren, however, had decided this was blase and kept looking at me like "I'm ready to go DAAAAAAAD!". I think this situation warrants a little more monitoring.

Day 3: At least I didn't barf

The seas were a little rough and I didn't handle it too well. I should have gone to eat breakfast right after waking up or at least get some medication, but I thought I could tough it out. NEVER EVER DO THIS!!!! We first went to take Lauren to some infant/toddler play time. We found out about it late the night before and figured we might as well since she would be up anyway. She really enjoyed this and I certainly had fun watching the balls in the ball pit rock back and forth ... back and forth ... back and forth. After an hour or so, we went to get some breakfast, but the damage had been done. I ate well enough and managed to keep everything down, then I decided to get whatever medication the ship would hand out. Also a mistake as they handed out these little packets of something called Meclizine. This is a poor man's Dramamine. They claim it's supposed to be as effective and non-drowsy ... heh. Doooooon't Yooouuu Belieeeeeeeve It! I spent most of the day napping and fighting the urge to examine what I had already eaten. Debbie wasn't too happy with all the sleeping but it was either nap or puke and I felt nap was the better option. I did manage to leave the cabin for a little while and walk around the ship. Being on the top deck helped a lot, but not enough to make the feelings go away. Dinner was great with everyone in their formal wear. I ended up going to bed early again because I knew tomorrow, we would be docked and no more rocking! Or so I thought.

The passing of one lifestyle, the beginning of the next

I'll get back to my overview of our Bermuda vacation in a minute, but I wanted to lament the passing of my life as I know it. Tomorrow, I will enter a different world, one that seems very strange and scary. Tomorrow, I will have to become a "Morning Person"!!!! Those who know me know this is a momentous occasion. In college, any class scheduled before 10 am was either not going on my schedule or not going on my daily routine (I don't recommend the later course of action. During 1 particular 8 am class I had, I walked in the day the professor handed back I test I was not there to take. Never a good sign.) So then, why must I make such a dramatic change to my lifestyle? I think it's because Debbie is going to back to work after 9 and 1/2 months or something ... I don't know. I don't really care though because this blog is about ME! ME ME ME! She can lament going back to work on her own blog, I'm going to lament getting up early on mine. I guess it's time to implement a nightly shot for Lauren to get that extra few hours of sleep. I'll start with something light and sweet, maybe a wine cooler shot. Can't start her on anything too hard just yet. I should really keep the shot to something 50 proof or less, does that sound good?

Now ... the rest of the story ... Day 2

Day 2 brought good weather for our next trek from the hotel to the Cape Liberty Cruise Port. We took our time getting ready, had a nice buffet breakfast, and checked out around 1:00 pm. Then, I loaded up all the bags and resumed my vacation duties as pack mule. I worried that all our crap might not fit into a taxi so I asked for a minivan. It ended up costing more than I wanted, but I was okay with it since I was shown the price sheet by the hotel valet rather than told the price by some seedy gentleman with a heavy accent. On the way to the port, my mom called to let us know where they were. Now, my dad didn't know that was why she was calling. He thought she was calling because they wouldn't have a chance once the boat left port. My family is sneaky that way. I talked to everyone in the car to give the illusion of wishing them all a safe and happy vacation while I suffered through the unbearable horror that is Illinois in July. From our conversations, I gathered we were faily close to each other. No more than a mere 10 minutes difference or so. After we finished unloading and our van took off, I found out how spot on I was. There we were, waiting for everyone else, when their minivan pulls into the exact spot our van just left. We hid so as not to give away the surprise. When dad went around to the back of the van to start unloading, I snuck up and said something witty and funny (don't I always?) that was totally lost on hum because he was too busy trying to figure out why I was there.
After them, the 2nd of 4 cars pulled in carrying Bun, Gene, Ally, Stephanie, Joey, and Faith. That was followed a half-hour later by Rick, Jeannie, Quinn, and Shane in Car #3 and Chris, Phoebe, and Ivan in Car #4. As we were the only ones left outside of the port at this point, we all decided to venture forth and begin our fabulous vacation.
Boarding the boat went smoothly since I got to drop off all the checked baggage and was only saddled with 50 lbs of luggage instead of the previous 600. We got to our room and began making ourselves at home. Dumping crap everywhere. Fortunately, most of our bags made it to the room fairly quickly and we were unpacked before leaving port. Watching the boat leave was kind of fun. One problem though, it's nothing like The Love Boat shows. There were no people waving goodbye and throwing streamers because there was no one to whom we could wave except the Longshore men, and I don't think they were too enthused. We did get a nice view of New York as we left the harbor, including the Statue of Liberty.
When dinner arrived, I began my week long daily consumption of red meat. That night's menu included Prime Rib (of which I am a fan). Here we met our waiter, Dragan, who was exceptional. It's this kind of waiter that makes cruises a fantastic vacation. He asked us all our names and wrote them down so he could address us personally. He also offered his recommendations for the menu (even going so far as to point out what wasn't so good). We also met Putu, our Assistant Waiter, who quickly learned I had a penchant for drinking Ice Tea. Dinner may have been wonderful, but desert was downright heavenly. It was a Chocolate Croquant Royale, which is fancy speak for a 2 tiered Chocolate Mousse cake. *drool*
At this point, it had been a long day, so Debbie and I decided to turn in early. Tomorrow, I would realize that medicating early is a good thing.

My take on Bermuda Day 1

Now that Debbie's had her say on the Bermuda trip, I thought I would chime in with my impressions of the vacation.

I spent most of day 1 as a glorified pack mule. I lugged around the airport carrying 3 times my body weight in luggage while Debbie conveniently used the excuse of having to carry Lauren so she couldn't carry luggage. I mean, Lauren can crawl. Let the little squirt follow us. ;) There were a few tenuous moments like when I approached the counter at the gate to try to pre-board the aircraft so I could have time to install the car seat I was lugging. That's when I overheard a conversation with the gate agent who stated that American Airlines doesn't have pre-boarding. Uh oh. But, I decided I would venture forth and ask. A different agent asked if she could help and I inquired if I could board early so I can install a car seat. She stated it wouldn't be a problem. I would just board with the first class passengers. I get on the plane and have the seat installed in no time, so I wait for Debbie to board. Did you know that the car seat is supposed to be installed in the window seat? I didn't. I put it in the middle, though the fact that I had to climb over it to get to the window seat should have been a clue that something was amiss. About 3 minutes before Debbie gets on the plane, the flight attendant informs me of my little gaffe and I race to climb over the seat, uninstall it, re-install it, and sit back down looking calm and composed. I almost got the last part done, but Debbie came in just as I wiped the sweat from my brow. The rest of the flight was blissfully uneventful. Lauren was making goo goo eyes with the strangers around us, causing smiles to pop up everywhere. She didn't sleep, but she was perfect the entire trip. Now, it was on to the state of the art Newark Liberty International Airport.
We normally travel fairly light (considering this was a week long vacation), but bringing Lauren had an adverse effect on our ability to keep luggage to a minimum. It was a good thing we bought her a seat because we had 5 checked bags and 2 carryons, plus a car seat. That's a lot of luggage to carry when one person has to carry a baby. So, as Debbie mentioned, we felt the $3 for a cart at the airport was well worth the investment. We didn't realize how worthy until soon after. We get our luggage with little problem and we are off with me looking like a Sherpa about to climb Mount Everest. We call the hotel to get a shuttle. Now, I would think the pick up instructions would be a bit more specific than "Go out to the street and stand on the corner by the light, the shuttle will be by", but that's just me. So, we go down a floor, head out to the street, at which point I realize this may not be the best idea with all the crap I've got, so we go back and I ask for directions. The lady at the counter then tells us we need to take the train to a different terminal where all the shuttles congregate or something. So, we go up a flight and try to find the train. This takes a while because all the signs say AirTran to me and I can't figure out why AirTran Airways would have signage like that. Then it dawns on me that the signs are AirTrain and this is what we want. We make it on the train, then the shuttle, then the hotel and everything is hunkey dorey.
Dinner with Sue, Dan, and their kids was great. I especially enjoyed when the babies were crawling around the atrium while the front desk people and passers by all broke into big smiles watching them. They had to go home and we had to go to bed so we can begin our big trip the next day!

Here's to you, Mrs Robinson

For some reason, I have just found women in their 30's to be extremely attractive. I can't tell what it is that would cause such a sudden change in my personal view. It's almost like a singular event is the cause of this, but I can't quite place my finger on what.