last vacation post....I promise.

Just a quick post today.

A few more pictures from Cancun

and then I promise not to bore you anymore with my vacay.

my first time ordering Sushi.

it was good!

The Hubby on my favorite hole on one of the golf courses.

going out for dinner....

one of the many gators on the golf course.

I was amazed that some of the staff were diving for golf balls in the same ponds as a couple of these guys. Yikes!

cold but sunny....

so nice to see flowers during the snow months

These animals had a tail like a raccoon and are about the size of a house cat.

One of the staff said they are "like ducks". Didn't really know what that meant till he started to feed one. Suddenly there were about 50 of them coming out of the woods racing towards us.

One of the men that The Hubby golfed with one day told a story about them.

He said they had just got sandwiches from the club's "drink cart" and had left them on their cart to go hit a ball. When they turned around they saw a swarm of them attacking their sandwiches in their cart.

Check out those claws! Duck? I'm not so sure.

the ceiling at the spa...

Have a great day!

ten things I learned on vacation

Our vacation to Cancun was our first experience staying at one of those "all inclusive" resorts. I wasn't sure what to expect but I did learn a few things from it....

1. It is possible to actually eat too much chocolate.

2. One week is not enough time to drink through the entire menu of pool side foofoo drinks.

3. There are crazy people who bring their babies to these places!

4. A one mile walk on the beach only burns about 100 calories, that's pretty much a waste of time when you're eating 10 million calories a day!

5. Speedo's are still popular with some 70ish year old men.

6. There some people with a disproportionate tooth to tattoo ratio who seem to visit these resorts just to be cruel to the staff.

7. Aromatherapy is my new best friend.

8. The chance to win a 50cent plastic Frisbee will cause some people to cheat on the pool side trivia game.

9. If you are just the right size, string bikini bottoms become invisible.

10. I love Mayan coffee!

Have a great day!

flying Forrest Gump style

The Hubby used to travel a lot with his old job. Even though it's nice having him home now, I'm gonna miss all those frequent flyer miles we could use on vacations.

We used up our last free miles for this trip. And there was just enough left over to bump us up to first class....but only on the way there.

I've never flown first class before and I'm sure it probably isn't what it used to be but it was definitely nice to have the big seats, pillows and blankets, "first class" bathroom up front [sure I didn't have to share it with all the other passengers but there's nothing special about it....you can trust my professional bathroom connoisseur opinion].

The best part was getting on the plane first and not having to fight to stow your carry on.

To me, that is the worst part about flying, especially since they started charging to check luggage.

I wish they would start enforcing their rules about carry-on's. You know, one carry on that you can store over head and one you can stow under the seat in front of you. There are so many people who bring two HUGE pieces on the plane, shove them in the overhead compartment at the front of the plane as they head to their seats in the back. Then the people getting on later have no where to put their stuff and end up having to check it anyways.

They need to have the overhead compartments labeled with the seat numbers. You get to put your ONE carry on in that space only. Then have a stewardess at the back of the plane when you board who is watching these people who try and shove coats another piece of luggage up there and say "No I'm sorry, you'll have to check that if it doesn't fit under your seat." They can sit there with it on their lap until everyone else boards and then go to the front and check it.

I know it would take extra time, but it seems like it takes forever the old way with the stewardesses trying to move luggage around in the overheads and shove things in there anyways. We still had a line of poor souls who were the last on the plane and only had one carry on and had to check it.


The last time I flew, I was alone after helping Nae drive out to Colorado for her summer internship. I flew Northwest Airlines. They have this "choose your own seat" boohaha. It was awful. They still assign you a "zone" and a "number". You get called to board by zones then when you get in line they ask you to get in numerical order. I felt like I was in kindergarten again. Of course, I was in the last zone and the last number so I was the last one on the plane.


Our flight wasn't full, which in a "choose your own seat" arrangement is considered a nightmare. Trust me.


I looked down the center isle and there were open seats scattered through out the plane, but with at least one person sitting in each row. I looked into the face of the person sitting next to the first open seat. He was a big man who kinda reminded me of the boy who would throw rocks at me at the bus stop when I was a kid [yeah Kim, you know who I'm talking about :)]. He kinda glared at me and spread his big muscly arms out to demonstrate how my personal space would be violated if I chose to sit next to him.


The next guy who I looked at with an open seat quickly looked away and suddenly developed this phelmy nasty cough that he obviously couldn't possibly cover with his hand if I chose to sit next to him.


There was a woman who was knitting who decided that her yarn needed it's own seat as I passed by.

A teen who threw her legs over the next seat.

Some people didn't do anything but glare at me and give me the "I'll kill you if you take this seat" message.


Even though no one actually said "Seat's taken" I still felt like Forrest Gump on the school bus that first day of school.

And there was no "Jenny" volunteering up a seat.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/forrest%20gump%20images/uploader2010/snapshot20091030063117.jpg

I finally asked the stewardess to find me a seat "or otherwise someone is gonna hurt me".

I'm wondering if the people at Northwest Airlines who decided this "choose your own seat" was a great idea have actually tried it themselves....

I'm still here...

Hi there bloggie friends! It's been forever since I've written anything. Thanks to you guys who are still checking in and for the notes on here and facebook telling me you've noticed my absence.

Christmas was a little rough here. All my kids, except Tony, were going through somethings that tugged on the mama heart strings.

Watching your kids hurt emotionally or physically is the toughest part of parenting. When there's nothing you can say or do to make it better. Knowing that it's part of life and it's theirs, and only theirs to experience and deal with, still doesn't make it any easier to let go.

Oh! How I miss the days of kissing the boo-boo, maybe a band aid, and we could go back to playing again....

But things are better here.

Nae is back at college and actively looking for her summer employment/ internship. She has had a couple phone interviews and we are excited to see where she will end up. We were hoping for something close to Chicago so we could see her more but she has some wonderful opportunities in other areas of the US. I won't lie, I'm thankful that it's the US this year and not Sudan again.

The other kids just finished up their semester exams and are breathing a sigh of relief that they made it through the first half of the school year in their new schools.

The Hubby and I just came back from a vacation in Cancun. Since the new job, The Hubby hasn't taken any time off (it's been over a year and a half I think). He really needed it!

Uncle Mark, The Hubby's bachelor brother took a week of his vacation time, flew up from Hilton Head and stayed with the kids and the puppy (I know! We thought maybe he was drinking when he agreed to do it!). He did an amazing job and the kids loved having him here for a whole week all to themselves.

I have some vacation stories. I'll tell you a quick one today.

We flew from O'Hare to Charlotte, NC then onto Cancun. I've never been to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport before. It was very nice. We came from a dark crowed O'Hare, filled with crabby people in extra long security lines (thank you Mr. Underwear Bomber) where flights were just beginning to be delayed because of a big snow storm--- to a big open cheery terminal in Charlotte, where the main area is full of windows, a man playing a grand piano, and rocking chairs to sit in the sunshine (or giant bean bags chairs to nap in).

But the best part of CLT....the bathrooms! Yes, that's right, the bathrooms. See one thing I haven't told you about myself is that I notice bathrooms. I enjoy finding nice bathrooms. It's kinda like a little treasure hunt. (if you're a long time reader of this blog, you may have noticed this fact in this post) I just didn't admit my gift back then. Yes, it's a gift really. Being able to find these "jewels in the rough" in some unlikely places. I like to consider myself a "Bathroom Connoisseur". I think it comes from my years of camping. My camping friend, Vonda, (and her husband, Dave, who we actually went on this vacation with) and I would try and pick our favorite camp grounds based on the "facilities".

So even though this bathroom wasn't a "jewel in the rough" because the whole airport was nice, I was still wasn't expecting what I walked into.

I happen to walk into the entrance of the restroom with another woman who I didn't know. We came in shoulder to shoulder and the first thing we see is a fancy little "spread" of mouthwash, breath mints, lotions, feminine products and a big tip jar FULL of money. I don't know if it was the shock of us both seeing all that money that stopped us in our tracks or the booming voice of the big black lady saying "Welcome to Big Bertha's Bathroom!!!"

We both hesitated and looked at each other for a second a little surprised. Then "Bertha" shouts at us in her southern accent "Come on, come on in! Don't be shy!" as she is waving us towards the toilet stalls. Then "Bertha" says "Everyone gets a seat in Big Bertha's Bathroom!" and she laughs this deep laugh while showing each of us to our own "seats".

The stall and everything in it was sparkling! And "Bertha" was waiting right there when I opened the door with a rag in her hand for a quick tidy up.

She continued to crack jokes and smile and "encourage" all of us ladies while we were in her domain.

Now I know why that tip jar was so full....and I couldn't help adding to it.

My "vacation" at The Villages

Wow! I have missed blogging and all my bloggie friends!

I just got home from a vacation in Florida with my friend Gigi (formally known as Lori, but since I've changed everyone else's name on this blog so I decided to change hers too. The name comes from the book I read on my vacay about a child's imaginary land with it's own language and gigi means sister--she is like a sister to me).

Anyhoo, Gigi and I planned this trip way back in May before my move. She got round trip tickets from Detroit to Tampa for $75. Too good to pass up. Poor Hubby said "yes" before he realized that we would be in "puppy purgatory". Needless to say, it was a long week for him (and the rest of the fam).

But not for me! The week was wonderful! We stayed with Gigi's parents, who have a place in The Villages.

When Gigi said we could stay with her parents for free at The Villages, I thought, "great! sounds relaxing!". I've seen tons of commercials for the place (every time I watch a golf tournament). I figured lots of old people, lots of naps, lots of shuffle board, ect. ect.

Boy was I wrong about that place!

First of all, it's a lot bigger than I thought. When Jim and Rosemary (Gigi's parents) drove us around and told us about the place, I was constantly lost. Jim was telling us all kinds of statistics....and you know how I am with numbers.....they are all a jumble in my brain (and when I look at their website to "refresh" my memory, I can't find them).....so lets just say it's HUGE!

24 executive golf courses. 9 championship courses. 2 downtown areas, a bunch of country clubs, club houses (pools), rec centers, a hospital, schools....I could go on and on and still not do it justice. It's the kinda place you have to see to believe.

Not only that, you kinda have to stay a while to experience it. It's hard to describe, but there is a vibe at The Villages. Rosemary mentioned a few times "the spirit of the villages" and I guess that's a way of putting it....

Here's a few examples of things we saw that changed my view of this "retirement community"

~the nightly gathering in the community squares with music, dancing, golf cart cruising, and people just hanging out!

~the 83 year old who bikes 30 miles a day (and 80 miles to celebrate his 80th birthday--in that Florida heat no less!)

~the daily list of activities that is an "insert" in the newspaper....it is bigger than my weekly community news insert at home.

~the thousands of older folks that we saw on the golf courses everyday....some looking like they could barely walk up to hit the ball. But they were out there.

~the group of senior giggling and doing jello shots at dance we went to.

~the beautiful sports complexes they have for everything from archery to Polo. Softball to tennis. Always bustling with people.

~all the groups and organizations and classes. Everywhere you looked, there were active people who were laughing and talking. Constantly going, going, going.

It is exhausting.

These people have more energy than my puppy. I swear!

And I'm still not doing the place justice....