Attempting

After some attempts I was able to upload a picture. I randomly snagged this one as I was sure it wouldn't work. So now you can see a tree in Miami. I have taken 378 pictures. With more to go!

Today is wedding at 4:00 on the ship. I thought is was on the beach, shows what I know. Reception to follow and a family dinner at Scarlett's, where you have to pay. It should be good, as the "free food" is terrific.

A few sea sickness folks, just woozy from the rolling. Yesterday was windy. Last night was bachelor and bachelorettes parties. Fun but I bugged out at 11:00. Hate to break tradition for being a cheap quick drunk and home I go. Eleven pm is almost a howling all night affair for me.

Let's try one more photo. A no go, sorry.

Travel Updates

I am trying to upload pictures and it isn't going good. Connection problems keep coming up. I'll try later. Trip is good but weather has been partly cloudy and in the 70's. Still lots of sunburns showing up. Catch you later. From the big water - ML

And Away We Go

Friday the 20th and after some harsh words and tense moments we were on the road by 12:30 pm. What you could see of the road that is. We had a few inches of snow to blow around with 25 mph winds, North Dakota style. It made this destination even more enticing.

Arrived in Bismarck by 3:30 pm and went directly to Applebees. A night sleep and we were on our shuttle to the airport by 6:45 am. We were off, flying the friendly skies. But not before spotting Governor John Hoeven, who flagged me and my Nikon with a wave.



Mickey, the Mrs Gov. was with. My she is skinny. Not enough buttered lefse in her diet. We sat with his Chief of Staff, Mr. Raushenburger, (Incidentally, Governor Hoeven and Mickey flew coach, good use of our tax $$) who's Dad was from Kief. For the non locals Kief is a microscopic village about 30 miles from Velva. It is almost a Velva connection. They were all on their way to DC after arriving in Minneapolis, where all of North Dakota connects with the outside world.

Our flights were uneventful after that brush with greatness. As we are sitting on the runway waiting to blast off I captured this shot out my window. Upon close observation, in the distance, you see a row of what looks like white smoke. That is a snowplow ripping open a North Dakota snow chugged road. Do you have any idea how common that scene is this winter?



We are now resting at the Miami Airport Hilton, pretty upscale for the likes of us. Ever on the prowl for an interesting event I did spot this little runabout out our hotel window.



By the way, just because I am on vacation I don't feel the need to curb by imbibing. This is what a $10.00 Caesar's, at the Miami Hilton, looks like. I had it made with Absolute Vodka, just for you Jolene. It was tasty.

Grillwork

A few days late in my entry but I wanted to get the home front news out before "the trip of a lifetime" (for me anyway!) takes precedence. Little LULU got her braces strapped in place last Monday. The first few days were a discomfort but she is pretty much back in full swing. Pink and Orange for her color combo. Incidentally, this world of wire is costing more than the trip. She looks so grown up, or a least like a teenager now. She is eleven going on seventeen.

It also appears between the braces and the cruise we no longer can afford haircuts for the children. Oh well, such is life in the fast lane.

P.S. The first published photo with the new Nikon, what a machine!

Trips are Hard Work

Trips are hard work. I am spinning trying to get this cruise in order for just the two of us. Order being clothes, packing, suitcases has even become an issue. The children are whining because: one wants to go with, one wants to stay at a friends and the third one hasn't tune up her orchestra yet, but I am pretty sure we will hear something before we're out the door.

I have a friend coming to stay and "ride herd," that includes the pet menagerie. I wonder if she remember we have fish, along with the Bud'ster and Ella Bella Kidee. She used to live here so she is also familiar with heating system, etc. I have to condition her to the clutter. She hates clutter and we have a boat load of it these days. In a way, she will be on her own cruise - what with the boatload!!

There is also things to get accomplished at work before I go. We are due for our state survey, any day. They usually walk in on a Monday or Tuesday and proceed to "examine" the place and quality of care. It is horrendously nerve wracking, awaiting the visit and of course, after their arrival. Some years we do great, other years they find issues to be fixed. Last year we received one citation: we didn't have a something valve on a floor drain in the mechanical room. We have survived without it for 29 years - those were some harrowing times, we just didn't know it. They can visit while I am gone or at least wait until I get back. Please don't throw it on us this week.

This whine qualifies as bitching if I were hung with a new rope. I should be lucky I get to have a super vacation while my oldest son gets married. It is all how you look at it.

Never Say Never

I am still a little bit in shock that I actually did it, but I went to a tanning bed for the very first time, ever! Not one to approve of them, I still don't by the way, but I was worried about toasting up a wee bit too much on this cruise. Looking like a lobster and peeling like an onion didn't appeal to me. So, I took the plunge.

My mother would be horrified if she knew. She was anti sun the last 50 years of her life and her smooth skin was a testimonial to sun avoidance. She would come to the pool when I was a kid with bottles of suntan lotion (this was eons before sunscreen was even a whisper in the Coppertone lab) come back shortly thereafter and make me come home NOW. More often then not, she scored with her gloom and doom projections, I burned and peeled.

Later on in my big girl years she would send me hats for gardening and sitting on tractors. "Stay out of the sun" couldn't be harped on enough. I am sure she was crest fallen when Myles bought me an 80 John Deere tractor for my 25th birthday so I could work summer fallow without a cab.

I believe that too much sun is not good for anyone and shows up remarkably in later years. Even now there are people younger than I who tan year round and actually it isn't appealing. The darker they get the more odd color they take on. It ceases to look healthy, forget Sunkist. Even more odd is the spray painted look.

So I go to get a haircut and I am telling my stylist, who happens to have a tanning bed in her salon, about my concern over tanning and burning. Before I can ponder or say BURNT, I am in a tanning bed, minus my clothes. A full seven minutes. It takes longer to hard boil an egg. Seven more sessions to go and I just may have the luminescent white cooked out of me.

On a lighter note it wasn't too bad in the roaster. It might have been a blessing in disguise (forgive me mom!) but those ultra violet rays, a new hair cut and a highlight seems to have pulled out of my funk.

Back to Business

It has been almost two weeks since my mother passed away. I have been inundated with all the regular things that go on in my life, and then a few extras, all gently embedded in grief. Life does go on whether we are up for it or not.

On a realistic note, it was a blessing that she went so peacefully. There was so little quality to her life. I went every day, either after work or on my days off. We would sit, she in her wheelchair and I in her recliner (she had two recliners in her private room, but always opted for the wheelchair) We would watch Ellen and Dr. Phil. Many many times she would look at me and say, "I have no idea what they are talking about." On the weekends we would watch Turner Classic Movies. Many of the movies I would remember from years gone by or with a classic story line. One time we were watching "The Cinderella Story" with Drew Barrymore and I would preface now and then, she looked at me and asked "How do you know so much about this story?"

Many memories, but now I much march through the finalizing of her belongings, her business, her life. My brother and I have been wading through the house since Dad died, almost ready to put it on the market. So it isn't like we just started yesterday. But as I said, there is the everyday stuff that goes on: meals, laundry, bills, clutter, problems, etc. I also like to keep my hand in the pleasurable things like writing and reading. I am getting so worn out. How do people do it who have lots more to deal with then I? Maybe there is some real found truth in God only gives you what you can handle. It should read: what you can barely handle.

We leave in a few short weeks for the destination wedding of Tad and Missy. I am looking forward to it but geez, so much to get ready before we go. Time marches on and waits for no one, including me.