hair raising

The low grey clouds matched my mood exactly… I started off my day Monday wondering if lithium could have caused my heart issue so I did a bit of googling… and yes, especially if there were periods of raised levels which there were. I had a period of about 6 months several years ago where my energy got lower and lower - I was literally dragging myself through life - my psyc doctor tested my lithium levels and they were elevated… it could have been around that time that I started having heart palpitations on a fairly regular basis…

It seems likely that the lithium was the cause - I stopped it 2 years ago and my heart palpitations have coincidently become less frequent and less severe. It was pure dumb luck that I had palps while waiting to see the doctor last week so it was in my head - I might not have thought to mention it otherwise. My pcp set up an appointment for an ultrasound and 2 weeks with a holter monitor… which was supposed to be sent out Monday so I'd be stuck wearing the stupid thing over Christmas and New Year which SUCKS! After a bit of a freak out, Carm suggested calling the company to see if I could reschedule for the New Year and luckily they hadn't sent it out yet so I was able to put it off till January… 

I'll admit to having a bit of a breakdown over all of this! One more sucky thing to deal with, but actually now that I've had a bit of time to think about it, it's all good and I'm glad to have a simple explanation for the condition, and now that I'm off the lithium, have lost weight, and am exercising, I've reduced the triggers and shouldn't have any trouble going forward.

Sunday I made a few dozen cardamom buns for our family Christmas celebration later this month. They freeze nicely so it felt like a good idea to get it done ahead of time. Who knows what might happen in the next week and as you know, bread making is pretty much a whole day sort of task!

Awesome!

“getting home from the city”

bread in the oven

It's a bright sunny day again today! But winter is upon us and it is freezing! I’ve been lucky enough to only see it through the window so far today but I'll make a point of taking the dogs out for a romp later… after I've cooled down and un-sweated from the treadmill!

Friday we met with Ken and Francine for lunch in the village. It was lovely to catch up with them again and feel happy that I'm getting to know Francine better 😀 After that we did errands and then raced home so I could start caramelising onions for the supper I was making for Trudie & Leo. 

It's a fairly long process but the results make it worth it. After the onions and garlic were caramelised (in the instant pot), I deglazed with ¼ cup marsala, added some fresh thyme and then instead of rice, I used barley which was an excellent substitution. I added the barley to the instant pot and cooked it for 15 minutes, released the pressure, added the lentils, and cooked for another 10 minutes at high pressure, then a natural release. I used it to stuff a home-grown butternut squash that I had roasted in the oven. Topped with grated gruyere cheese and re-heated in the oven: 5/5!

To keep to the cooking theme I seem to be stuck on today, I did the brussels sprouts a little differently. Instead of just roasting straight from the cutting board, I soaked them in salted water for 30+ minutes, drained, rinsed, and dried, and then roasted in the airfryer. I think they turned out a bit more tender - Carm thought they were better than usual. I certainly had no trouble eating them and stuffed my face!

Well ha ha! That was all yesterday… I never did make it out of the house and somehow the day got away from me and I spent too much time dozing on the sofa. Not today though! I got up at a reasonable time, walked on the treadmill while chatting with Kirsten, made cardamom buns in prep for Christmas, and tamed the spare bedroom for overnight guests later this week. I think it was sunny this morning but it certainly isn't now (3:30pm)... 

Awesome!

“seeing new muscles in my legs”

“dogs asleep in the afternoon”

“my new earbuds!”

“giant pot of bean & vegetable soup”

I will

Yesterday a photo of Spike and I at the office popped up from ‘this day’ in 2009… it was maybe his first day at the office as a service dog… Coincidentally, yesterday was also the 3rd anniversary of his death. I won't lie - I had a tiny cry but also took a few minutes to think about how much Lupa has partially filled the hole in my heart that he left gaping. She's curled up against me on the sofa as I write this, warming my legs, and my heart. ❤️ 

The days are racing to Christmas and yet all I have is the tree up for decoration. I got Carm to carry it upstairs last week and that's about as much effort as I've put in and it was Carm that put in the most effort. I don't want to be a whiner, but I will for a minute… since August, when I started the tamoxifen, I've been draggy and low. Not terrible, just not motivated. Everything is an effort. Luckily, I've had 20 years of overcoming lethargy to practice getting myself going! Most of the time!

Today I put a single word on the treadmill to motivate me: THRIVE. That's what I want to do and keep doing! Most days I put in a herculean effort and walk for an hour - today I did 3.8 miles, over half at 6% incline, a bit at 7%, and the rest at 5% - and have been adding 10 minutes on the bike and today a few minutes with weights and planks. By the time that is all done, I'm finished for the day and barely get anything else done… but I'm at least getting fitter! I still see improvements in my muscle tone and am excited to start the weights for my upper body  😀  My legs are in great shape and are so much stronger than when I started last February.

We had doctors appointments yesterday, just the usual annual prescription renewal and overall checkup. The doctor came in fresh from seeing Carm so he'd already heard about our weight loss and my exercise, and of course our plant-based diet. I lamented to him about having to exercise for an hour and restrict my calories to keep the weight off but he confirmed that it's a common theme for women who lose a lot of weight, especially at my age, and to just keep doing what I'm doing. He asked if I was planning on losing more weight and was supportive for another 5 pounds to come off. He also reiterated that keeping the weight off and keeping up with the exercise was important for long term health with regards to breast cancer. 

And that's what motivates me the most - keeping cancer at bay. I don't think of it often, and usually only in a ‘third person’ sort of way, but sometimes when I'm justifying my choices I think to myself: ‘I just fucking had fucking cancer! and have to take drugs for another 4 ¾ years! to reduce risk of a reoccurance’. If that isn't motivation to eat healthily and exercise I don't know what is!

The doctor has also set me up for a holter monitor and referred me for a heart ultrasound to make sure that my abnormal ecg results are not an indication of anything serious! When I was in for surgery last May the nurses and doctors kept making comments about my low heart rate and I had to reassure them that it was normal for me.

Not everything has been a drag though! Last Friday I met up with Kirsten and Mom for our annual trip to Ikea! We poked around for hours and of course stopped for lunch - who can pass up the meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy and lingonberry jam 😀 I chose the plant balls rather than the meat balls which I actually prefer. They were moist and flavourful. Unfortunately they don't sell them frozen or I would have brought some home with me. I have a couple of nice plant ball recipes so I'll have to get busy in the kitchen - they are a lot of work though!

I've gone from being hot all the time to freezing all the time! Not sure what has precipitated that change but I'm not happy about it! Carm has been my hero by taking the dogs outside most of the time so I don't get even more chilled. xoxo my honey

Well, that was more than a minute of whining! Sorry!

We've had a lot of meals on repeat this fall so this week I've been trying to make some new things. One night we had lentil loaf with mashed potatoes & green beans, but also chopped up some peppers and sauteed them with garlic, ginger, basil, and a bit of kale to use as a side. It was good! Tonight I roasted sweet potato cubes, and in another pot sauteed garlic, ginger, chopped red peppers, cherry tomatoes, kale, Thai garden red curry paste, and white kidney beans. We tossed it with the sweet potato and some roasted broccoli for a flavourful dinner.

I find it too easy to get into a cooking rut and all my old favorites are off the table as they have ground beef or pork in them  😞  As it is, yesterday I made a giant pot of soup which we will eat for supper several times this week! Thank goodness that Carm loves soup and would eat it everyday without complaint ❤️. 

Awesome!

“seeing new muscles in my legs”

“dogs asleep in the afternoon”

“my new earbuds!”

“giant pot of bean & vegetable soup”

stuck

We've been home for over a week now and still the yearning for Caribbean sun has not waned! There is snow on the ground, which should be motivating me to get Christmas decorating started, but alas, I just can't get into the mood for it yet. Yesterday I started playing Christmas music… it hasn't done its magic yet!

Part of the problem today is that I stayed in bed until past 10am! I stupidly forgot my meds last night which leaves me feeling nauseous and draggy for the rest of the day. I thought something was off when I woke up, but I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head… until Carm burst into the room to say that they were sitting on the counter still - DOOH! That was 8am… 2 more hours of sleep and I could almost go about my day normally.

I was still dragging myself a bit so I only managed 40 minutes on the treadmill with Kirsten… tomorrow I'll do better!

I actually left the house today (aside from taking the dogs to get their nails done)! First time since we got home 😱 I do know how to hibernate… 

I need some of that energy that I had the first few days of our cruise! I have a hard time remembering that we walked and jogged on the track on our first 2 sea days!

We got new phones the week before we left on our trip - we both love them. I love the camera on mine and should get outside to take some photos, but the grey skies do not inspire! Instead I'll stay inside and take photos of food!

4:15 and Grace's light just came on… apparently, today we start to gain light at night (one second) but we still lose in the morning until January 6th. 

Awesome!

“fresh white snow”

“those potato puffs in the freezer”

lazy days

A few days of mooching around the house not doing much has passed and yet, still I’m not fully out of my pyjamas… we did manage to get 1 giant load of laundry done today - 2 more to go but need to wait for the drying space. 

It's hard getting back to the swing of things - cooking seems like a chore I never want to take on again so we've been having ‘easy’ suppers: salmon fillet with rice & green beans; pasta with tomato sauce; leftover from the freezer caramelised onion lentils & rice with butternut squash… this afternoon I spent some time in the kitchen prepping for a bean and cabbage soup with lots of onion, celery, pumpkin, red peppers, diced tomatoes, and of course beans & cabbage! It felt like a huge effort but it's enough for 4 suppers.

I suppose I'm still recovering from everything and I do have to remember that I wasn't fully energized before we left… I still have to isolate side-effects from laziness! I have been sleeping like a log since we've been home and haven't been woken up with a hot flash for a few days - it feels like a miracle.

The dogs have settled back into a routine of napping through the days… Lupa is rarely far from my lap… that's not a big change for her though!

I thought I'd do a review of what I did and didn't wear as there were a few things that I didn't put on and a few things that I would have worn if I'd only checked to make sure they fit before packing them…

What I didn't wear: leggings & t-shirt - instead I'd throw on shorts or silk lounge pants to dash out of the room; speaking of lounge pants - the black & white ones were way too big and should have been excluded from my bag!; also a few ‘daytime’ t-shirts that were too huge for me, plus we spent more time by the pool and less in the bowels of the ship so it was much more casual. I never wore the dressy pink top. I brought a pair of blue crushed velvet pants that I only wore once - I probably could have worn something else a second or third time, but I wanted to bring them! They are so cool :-) I didn't wear all the t-shirts that I brought - could have brought one less tank top. I also didn't wear the blue polka dot skort - again, not much time spent dressed up during the day.

What I did wear: navy linen shorts - perfect for excursions and around the ship; short shorts - mainly because the other casual pair I brought were way too big; exercise clothes; light sweatshirt - perfect for throwing over a camisole to dash to the buffet for coffee; cream linen pants - a break from dressing up and also good for morning trip to buffet; black silk lounge pants were perfect for chilling in our room, although on the first sea day I bought a thick black ‘wool’ shawl thing that I could throw over myself in between tub and getting dressed for supper; black flare leggings - I wore these a few times with different tops, comfy and pack well. I wore all four dresses that I brought, including the coral sequin dress and gold silk gown! I also wore both the purple and black cocktail dresses but could have worn the black one twice - I'd still bring both though - when else could I wear it!

I wore the white jeans once or maybe twice, but I think I’d skip bringing these even though they looked nice. I wore both 2 piece bathing suits a few times. I wore the black camisole bathing suit once - I'd still bring it in case I wanted to wear more than a bikini. The other bathing suit I didn't wear at all. I mostly wore a short pink & white bathing suit cover up - could have skipped the black one as I only wore it once. I wore the blue dress coverup to the beach in Sint Maarten and would have worn it on the Turks and Caicos as well.

Shoes? I could have skipped bringing the brown keen sandals as my black platform shoes are comfortable for long walking and I'd just use my pool sandals to dash to the buffet. I wore both the black and the gold wedges. They were both comfortable and looked okay with dresses - I could do the stairs in them! I didn't bring my uncomfortable kitten heels - I just couldn't bear the thought of them!

I had bought a small refillable container to bring bubble bath in, but at the last minute threw in what was left of the bubble bath that Kirsten gave me for my birthday - I used almost all of it as I had a bath in the afternoon every day! I loved having a bathtub 😀 

We used the elevators only when we got onto the ship with our carry ons… from 5 to 16 was a bit much burdened with suitcases… but otherwise, it was the stairs all the way. We'd usually do them 2 to 3 times a day. We were a lot more intentional when we went down to the piazza and would plan a longer stay! When going from 5 to 16, we'd do 2 flights on the piazza stairs, then across to the forward stairs, up and up with a pause at the 12th deck… on the last few days I could skip the pause on the 12th! 

Since getting home I've done 2 days on the treadmill, adding an additional 6 minutes on the bike, but today I wimped out and indulged myself with yet another afternoon of reading. Surely my energy will return soon!

This summer I started eating 2 kiwi fruit every night… they are fussy to peel and a bit of a pain… but! Somewhere this vacation I found out that I can eat the skin! It's a bit weird but it is so much easier!

Awesome!

“my sunspot on the sofa“

“clean house 😱 “

“pets”

home sweet home

I'm sitting in my sun spot on the sofa sipping coffee. Yes, we are home after a long day yesterday of hurry up and wait. We got showered & dressed, had a quick breakfast in the buffett - my last GORGE of smoked salmon for who knows how long. Every morning I swear I eat the equivalent of ⅓ a package of the Norwegian frozen smoked salmon from Costco. I'd drive us into the poor house if I kept up that habit. And oh the melon - I ate so much melon! It was wonderful!

Okay, back to yesterday… disembarkation couldn't have been faster! We collected our suitcases, basically walked through customs, and were out the door at the Uber stand in minutes. I think we got to the airport just after 8am! Our flight was at 12:20, so we had a bit of a wait but luckily! Sonia & Perry were on the same flight so we chatted with them at the gate and before we knew it our flight was called.

The flight was less than 3 hours - he must have had one heck of a tailwind! We walked through customs, and before we knew it we had bags in hand and were saying a tearful goodbye to Sonia and Perry. Carm got the car and away we were, zigging ourselves through heavy traffic (Carm took the back roads which had countless left turns onto busy rush hour roads) and dark roads - pulling into the laneway never felt so good.

See the ship in the background?

I think I left off our last day with packing… we watched ‘the Voice’ (our friend was in the 3 finalists but didn't win), we had a final supper in the dining room… mooched around for a bit before heading back to our room. We had to get the suitcases out into the hall soon after dinner. I crashed on the bed - honestly I can't remember feeling so tired - and sent Carm out for the evening. He was back by 9:30 and I'd already been asleep for a while. I felt sad to miss out but I just couldn't do it…

It was with a bit of trepidation that I stepped onto the scale this morning - I told myself I'd be happy if I gained less than 6 or 7 pounds… but I only gained 1 ½ pounds! Even with all the extra calories from drinks! I did try to make healthier choices, but if there was something I really wanted, I'd have it. I had dessert most nights, but did skip a few times cause I was just that full! We had gelato once, hotdog & fries once.  I think the big difference is that most nights we wouldn't snack before bed - a few times we dashed to the buffet for some fruit (and shrimp if they had it), but generally we were still full from supper! I also only got up once in the middle of the night for their amazing chocolate chip cookie… it's not like I was denying myself, I just didn't feel like it.

The pets were ecstatic when we got home but settled down quickly. They were obviously well taken care of 😀 . Christina had cleaned up the house and even put flowers out for us! It was a nice welcome home.

Awesome!

“everything“

packing up

We've just finished packing… 🧳 we basically threw everything into our bags with no thoughts of organization… our trip is just about over and I'll have to say that I am anxious to get home. It's been a fantastic vacation but we are both beat!

Last night we had a last supper with Sonia and Perry, then instead of going to the theatre, we all went dancing! We met some new people - Grace and Peter are a lovely couple from Australia but originally from Italy so Carm was happy to practice some Italian. 

Today was cloudy again so instead of the pool we went downstairs for our coffee - iced soy latte with a double shot of espresso please! There was a Zumba class going on so we watched that - we got there too late to participate, but decided that we would look into classes when we get home! Yes, even Carm! The instructor was a hoot - one of those charismatic people that is hard to ignore.

We met up with all four of our new friends while we were downstairs and hung out on the piazza for ages, even getting up to dance a few times. Nothing like making a fool of myself in front of scores of onlookers 😜 More coffee and a giant gelato cone had me buzzing - yikes!

Grace is singing in the ship's version of ‘the Voice’ later today so we will get ready for supper early so we can see her before our dinner reservations.

They are trying to get us to stay up later tonight - dancing starts at 10:30 tonight - so we shall see… I'm pretty wiped out 😭 

Awesome!

“everything“

missed port Turks and Caicos

We were meant to dock in the Turks and Caicos today but alas, the captain aborted at the last minute as it was too windy. So today is a bonus sea day… we were excited about today's port as we have never been there and the beach is right off the dock. 

It's grey and drizzling a bit so after mooching around the piazza and spending some of our on board credit… we got a wallet full of non-refundable on board credit that we have to spend! There isn't much in the shops, and no nice shirts for Carm so I indulged my jewellery fetish and got a lovely necklace, bracelet, and earrings. They are casual enough for everyday use. I was eyeing a swarovski crystal necklace but figured it would sit in its box… 

After our wallet was empty, we climbed back up to our deck, stopping for a margarita and then a light lunch. The plan was to watch a movie in our cabin but neither of us had the energy. Instead we read and soaked in the tub 🛀 there is never a lack of hot water, in fact it's usually scalding! 🌋 

We are still both struggling with a cold and it's sapping our energy. Even Carm's neverending energy has been knocked back, so it's not just me holding us back…

There has been discussion about future cruises. I love the experience but I don't think it loves me…😭 it's Carm's first time being sick on a cruise and he's finding out how miserable it is…

We'll try something different next year.

Last night we had a great time! I threw in the photo of us at the last minute before posting - we saw Judy downstairs so got her to take a few photos of us, plus we stopped at the ship photographer for a professional photo. One turned out nice, so we purchased it - we haven't had a great photo together for years!

We ate with Sonia and Perry again, then went our separate ways for the evening. The theatre was packed by the time we got there but we managed to score 2 good seats for the production show. We danced for a bit in the piazza 💃 then climbed the stairs up to the 16th floor and turned in early. We are wimps! Sonia and Perry found stuff to do well into the night but we didn't have it in us…

Tonight it will be more of the same!

We have enjoyed our dinners with our new friends. They are most definitely not ‘a glass half empty’ people but are more ‘filled to the brim’ people. Their enthusiasm and zest for life is contagious.

Sorry for bombarding you with photo after photo of us! Feel free to skip past!

Awesome!

“everything“

St Thomas

Today we are in St. Thomas, one of the British Virgin Islands. It's hot as heck with high humidity - that is not a complaint! We left the ship early for a walk… we had it in our mind that we'd walk into town but as the sweat made even my sandals too slippery to walk in, we headed back after half an hour and directly to the pool where we were lucky enough to get the last two loungers in the shade.

I was in and out of the pool for a few hours and by the time it was almost noon we were starving (ha ha ha)... since we'd just had fruit for breakfast, oh and I had ½ a donut, we decided to splurge at lunch and go to the casual Italian place. It was delicious and luckily the portion sizes aren't huge.

One of the great things at the buffet is all the fruit. There are giant platters of cut up melon (watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew), and some pineapple. We can also get apples, bananas, and a few times kiwi. This morning I dashed out while Carm was in the shower and brought back a giant bowl of melon to quench my thirst and soothe my sore throat. I've probably eaten the equivalent of 2 giant watermelons this trip so far 😀 I usually try to grab a little glass of green smoothie which is just a blend of vegetables and fruits.

After lunch we wandered around the piazza and then up to our room for our afternoon quiet time. I had a little nap, but you know how sometimes a nap just screws up your head worse than without… I'm too foggy and tired for an afternoon marg! Probably not a bad thing to skip a few drinks now and again!

Our cabin is on the dock side of the ship and there's either a band or dj playing really bad, especially loud music that sounds horrible all the way up here on the 16th deck. We've got the window closed and the heavy drapes drawn but it isn't helping… it's probably why I didn't nap for very long.

Last night we ate dinner alone so we were out at the piazza dancing by 6pm :-) The show last night was a musician from New Orleans. When he talked a bit about the Jazz funerals and then played a rousing version of when the saints go marching on, I had a little tear in my eye. 

From there we sat at ‘Princess Live’ to watch a game show - they were having to guess a song from just a few clues - we got a few right thanks to my never ending playing of one hit wonders! 

We were back in our room by 9:30, wiped out from a long day. I took gravol at bedtime last night and I think it helped me get an extra hour of sleep. Still 6 hours is not a huge improvement from 5!

I've made a few culinary discoveries on this trip - the last 2 nights I had shrimp and or scallop dishes with polenta. I've not really had it before, and Carm claims he doesn't care for it, but honestly - I'm going to force him! It was so garlicky and smooth, kind of an elevated ‘mashed potato’. 

My other discovery, and this is a bad one, is the Negroni. It's a blend of gin, vermouth, and campari on heaps of ice - I've been downing them like soda the last few nights - my new favourite cocktail! I might even have all the ingredients at home :-) We have an extensive booze cupboard that rarely gets tapped so there's surely some dregs… We don't normally drink much at home though, and I don't intend on starting a habit.

Tonight is the second formal night and I'm getting excited to wear my ‘golden gown’! It the dress that was custom made for Kirsten's wedding in 1996! I've never had a chance to wear it again so tonight, I'll be a golden orb.

Awesome!

“everything“

Sint Maarten

Today was our first beach day! We are in Sint Maarten where the water is as blue as the sky. The beach is a sweltering 20ish minute walk from the ship, through a well designed port and shopping area, along a somewhat busy road, and then into the town. It's all rather nice and is much more prosperous than the other islands we've been to this trip.

The beach is long with sugar white sand, and dotted with chairs and umbrellas that you can rent. For 20 bucks we got two chairs, an umbrella, and a little table right on the ocean. We were there early so had a bit of quiet time before the hordes descended. Actually, it was all rather nice and we got to know some more people. 

We stayed until noon, managing to not be burned to a crisp! As you can see from the photo, I still look like a pasty white beluga whale! This trip I decided that I didn't care what other people thought and have been mostly wearing a 2 piece - I feel that a bit of a tan on my belly would be slimming. 😱

After we almost passed out getting back to the ship - it was hot and the humidity was high - we dropped our stuff in our room then dashed out to the pool for a quick dip and our afternoon marg. I was starving and since the buffet is right there… we indulged in some watermelon and a few nacho chips, but it wasn’t enough so I caved and got a rather average hotdog… note to self: I feel better after a salad! Another plate of watermelon would have been the better choice!

We've been hanging out the rest of the afternoon in our room - I even managed a short nap. I'm still not sleeping well, although I didn't have a disgusting number of hot flashes last night so maybe netted 5 or 6 hours… I'm exhausted and a bit sick… so far (touch wood), I'm holding off the worst. Soon I'll get into the tub to clean up and get ready for dinner 😀 

We are loving that we treated ourselves to a mini-suite and may have to always travel with such luxury!

Last night I had trouble posting my blog - the old way was so much better - now there are several hoops to jump through and it seems that the internet is slow at times which messes up the upload. Very frustrating. I hate that Google no longer allows pasting into gmail and the website version of blogger. Instead I have to paste into the app, which isn't fully featured. Photos are a pita. However, it eventually got done.

It's been a week since we left home and I'm starting to get a bit homesick. The thought of a good night's sleep seems unattainable, like some sort of mirage or distant memory from the past. But we are still having a great time!

Awesome!

“everything“

not working again

Fubar

Antigua

It's possible that I'm going to overdose on vitamin D! So much sunshine but it has clouded over with a few showers. That's okay as it's noon and I've been out baking for ages already. We are in Antigua today - no excursion again, so we just wandered around the port for a while, sweating buckets in the humidity. Carm is a bit under the weather (it had to be one of us to get a cold!) so wasn't up for a giant walk.

The port area had some high end shops ($180US for a bathing suit!), but once we left the gated area we stumbled across a giant market under a tent with a plethora of cheap sun dresses and other cheap stuff. I didn't buy anything despite being heavily pressured to purchase a white sundress. In the end, I figured I had nowhere to wear something like that so passed.

The rest of the morning we relaxed by the pool. Today we didn't even wait till noon for our first margarita! That's been the drink of the afternoon this trip, aside from the inaugural pina colada that I always have in memory of our first cruise with Jo Ellen & Don.

Last night we met up with Sonia and Perry for supper. We have really hit it off with them - they are so lovely and we seem to have lots to talk about. It was just luck that we sat next to them the first night. 

After dinner we mooched around until the band started playing in the piazza. We found seats with an American couple and I have to admit that I was rude and took out my phone to scroll facebook. Carm was really good at steering the conversation away from politics (imagine that!), but they were Trump voters… ugh. She thought that Trump was a great family man and had never cheated on each of his wives… Melania was the most beautiful and elegant first lady ever (never mind that there are naked pictures of her floating around)… and that he was going to save the country. Yikes! They were pretty ill informed. They also think that having RFK Jr in charge of health for the country will be a great thing, even though he is adamantly anti-vaccination and wants to dismantle the NIH and CDC… they hadn't heard that he claimed to have had a worm in his brain.

But luckily the band started playing so we could excuse ourselves to the dance floor!

We lazed around most of the afternoon then headed to dinner with Sonia and Perry again… caught the show and then headed to our room… Carm’s cold is getting worse and now I can only breathe out of one nostril… perhaps this is our last cruise… we shall see what the next few days bring.

I've been getting regular updates from Christina. The dogs will be sad to see us come home as she gets them outside playing for hours every day! No wonder they sleep from 8pm till past 6am!

Awesome!

“everything“

St Kitts

 Today we are in St. Kitts - again, no excursions booked so we supported the local economy and went shopping in town! I found a local craftsperson who made jewellery out of sea glass so indulged myself with earrings and a necklace!

After mooching around town (although we didn't venture far from the port as it seemed a bit sketchy), we hung out at the pool, swimming and drinking too many margaritas(!) for a few hours… we are back in our cabin for a few hours of napping and relaxation this afternoon :-) Oh, life is rough! I'm finding this trip to be especially restorative - I guess we both needed the break away from reality…

Last night before dinner we stopped for a drink before supper as is our habit. I was getting Carm to take a photo of me all dressed in my sausage dress, when a lady zoomed over to us and practically grabbed my phone from my hands (in the best way!) so she could take photos of the two of us together :-) She was lovely and we exchanged email addresses. I posted the photo last night.

We had a nice steak dinner at the ‘specialty steak house’... I gorged myself on scallops, black & blue onion soup (our favourite!), and I had a GIANT rib steak, I think it was 14oz! No wonder my belly is getting bigger! Soon Iˋll have to forego the skimpy black bikini that I've been wearing at the pool, although I feel tiny compared to some of the people also in bikinis around the pool 😱

The people sitting next to us, (Fran & JP), in the restaurant were from California and were lovely. I'm not sure how it came up, but I mentioned the benefits of cannabis - but I was talking to the already converted… she used it for pain and sleep as well! Conversation flowed and we covered many topics and found much common ground.

After dinner we got seats at the theatre for the ‘Elvis’ show - I'll admit that I'm not a super Elvis fan but the performer was fun, with so much energy. He came across as a warm person… this morning we met him in the piazza and chatted for a few minutes - he was even more lovely in person 😉 

When the show was over, we headed for the piazza where the band was playing. The singer has a voice like Nat King Cole… we got up to dance many times and had a great time. It's crazy but we are more in love than ever! Perhaps a cancer scare has a silver lining 😉 . And who doesn't feel madly in love when dancing to love songs! So far, it's been like a non-stop date night 😀 

Awesome!

“everything“

Tortola

Today is our first port day! We've never been to Tortola and plan to walk around the town… we haven't booked any excursions this trip as I wasn't really sure how I would feel, but I am feeling great… well, as great as one could feel having had less than 6 hours of sleep every night.

At home I generally have a cannabis cookie at bedtime which helps tremendously with sleep, and as I am reminded constantly through the night, reduces hot flashes to a minimum. Unfortunately they have been wicked, waking me up several times a night. It sucks!

Last night was the first formal night so I trotted out in my coral sequin dress! It's a head turner - not for the shy. I got lots of compliments. It's a dress that wears me, I don't wear it!

We ate again with Sonia and Perry 🙂. She had me in tears with her story about her Jewish parents during the 2nd world war… but we also had fun with other, less emotional topics.

After the production show in the theatre we enjoyed some music and dancing in the piazza 😍. Again, we thought about our distant dance lessons that we have totally forgotten!

I can already feel my clothes getting tighter!

Mid afternoon… We walked around the town for a bit but it was a bust! Not much to see and very hot so we weren't disappointed to head back to the ship for a virtual sea day!

The pool wasn't busy and we eventually scored some chairs in the shade… a few hours later… and a few margaritas later, I headed back to our room for a rest, leaving Carm behind to socialize to his heart's content!

Tonight we are eating at the Crown Grill, the specialty steak house. I'm wearing my purple sausage dress which isn't as sausagy anymore but might be in a few days!

Awesome!

“everything“

getting into the groove

 Sunday, our first day at sea has been wonderful! We started off with a giant breakfast… I had meant to have a light breakfast but ended up with a giant plate of mushrooms, fruit, smoked salmon, pickled herring, and an egg on half slice of French toast. It was delicious and I felt slightly virtuous!

From there we went downstairs to shop (new hat and warm blanket scarf - I've been freezing and stupidly forgot to pack a pashmina). Then we attended a lecture about our next 2 ports. From there we climbed the stairs to the track for 15 laps which is just over 2 miles!

Swim time! It's chilly and windy but we hung out by the pool for ages, meeting some nice people. Julie and her son Austin were from outside Toronto, Sue and her son Brian are from Phoenix and Colorado. He works for Subaru so we had a connection right off the bat. I'm not sure if it's me or just luck, but we have connected with a few people already 😀

I was chatting with Julie about cancer and of course she had a few friends who have gone through it - one friend doesn't call herself a survivor… she has a much more powerful term that I am adopting for myself - she calls herself a thriver! That's me - I'm thriving!

—-

It's already Monday! Last night we had supper with Sonia and Perry. It already feels like we've known them forever 😀 After supper we went to the theatre for a magician show. He was good but I think I enjoyed Ted and Marion’s show better.

I was awake again before the sun 🌅. Once I was showered and into my walking clothes, I dashed to the buffet for a coffee… unfortunately the specialty coffee wasn't available so I just got some regular brew and sat by the pool for a while. When I got back to the room Carm had just gotten up so he got straight into his walking clothes and away we went for a 2.15 miles on the track - with some jogging!!! I felt great!

Breakfast was huge again but I felt slightly virtuous with my choices - lots of fruit and salmon… I got 3 out of 5 health boosting foods already 😀 and it was So good!

By 10:30 we had swum and are now on the 5th deck for a latte and to listen to the captain speak.

Awesome!

“everything“

come sail away

 A few days ago: There has been a whole lot of hurry up and wait so far today but now we are well on our way to fort Lauderdale. Our flight from Ottawa to Montreal was delayed so we had to run through security and customs and then of course wait for boarding! It's all good!

We've had a bit of food - piping hot sliders - and some beer/wine but we still have 1.25 hours to go. I haven't dug out my headphones so the only movie that I have been watching is Twister, between the seats. It's very dramatic and not at all making me want to have a new hobby!

There is heavy cloud cover so not much to see out of my window… the tops of the clouds are rough and look a bit like a snow covered mountain range.

The people in the row ahead of us are super tall but haven't reclined their seats which is nice for us but maybe not for them. Their heads are taller than the seat back while I don't even reach the top of mine! Sometimes it is nice to be a shrimp!

Sunday morning: We are here on the ocean after 2 busy days of travel and settling in. The rest of the travel on Friday went well, we got to our hotel (Royal Palms Resort in North Beach). Once we dropped our bags in our room which was conveniently located just a flight up some stairs to the lovely little tapas bar in the courtyard. This was the reason that we booked this hotel again - we'd had such a nice time with Kirsten and Shawn there 2 years ago, it seemed like a no brainer. We had a few cold beers and one of the best club sandwiches that we've had in a long time. The bartender was chatty and funny, and there were other people sitting at the bar to chat with. We've exchanged emails with Laurie & Fernando from Phoenix. The hotel is located just 1 block from the beach which was perfect for an early morning stroll.

The hurry up and wait started again after we'd had coffee Saturday morning. First we relaxed in the courtyard and then corralled our bags and called an Uber. The traffic was heavy but we eventually made it to the ship. I'm not sure why, but the lineup to get into the building was LONG… but we made it and were in our room before noon.

This trip we treated ourselves to a mini-suite which is HUGE! We normally get a balcony, or sometimes a deluxe balcony which has a little loveseat. This room has a giant full size couch, 2 tvs so you can watch movies from the bed or sofa, and a bathtub! I've already availed myself with a bit of bubble bath. Once we got partially settled we went looking for food - first stop: dining room… 10 floors down… it was closed so it was back up to the buffet… 10 floors back up! After a quick lunch (some grilled vegetables and melon), we found out we had to go back down to the piazza to check into our muster station… 10 more flights there and back! We were ready for a swim :-)

We were lucky enough to get two lounge chairs and were perfectly situated for the sail away show - Princess singers and dancers bopped to some music and then strains of the Love Boat theme were blasted by the ships horn - we were underway!

We had early supper reservations, I had just enough time for a soaking bubble bath and get dolled up for dinner :-)  We sat at a table for two but had charming couples on each side of us. We really connected with Sonia and Perry, from Calgary, so have arranged to get seated together tonight. It's always great to meet up with some new friends.

It was funny though - the gammut of conversation was wide as we discovered each other, revealing so much in common. They are both plant-based eaters and not heavy drinkers, but not adverse to a prosecco or two 😉  After dinner we got seats in the theater for the show - the performer was good, but it wasn't the best we've seen… I was done for the day afterwards and headed up to our room (8 flights this time) for a wind-down. Since this is Princess, they have ‘the Loveboat’ on demand so I snuggled in bed and watched two episodes while Carm hung out with Sonia and Perry, having fun at some trivia games. 

I did venture out to the buffet which is just down the hall from us on the other side of the pool. I was hoping to score some shrimp, but alas! They did have some lovely looking mussels so I treated myself to a few - I would have had more but I'm slightly afraid of seafood since I developed an allergy to squid and octopus, both of which make my viciously ill. I loaded the rest of my plate with some fruit.

So now it's morning on Sunday, I've been awake for ages… I eventually got out of bed, showered, and then headed to the buffet to see about some coffee. Ah yes, they have speciality coffee up in the buffet so I didn't have to go down to the 5th deck to get it! Nothing like a soy latte for breakfast. We'll head back for some breakfast in a few minutes, and then it will be time for a walk on the track!

Oh… my blog work around no longer works so getting photos attached is a ROYAL PAIN IN THE BUTT!

Christina seems to be managing with the dogs - they will be sad to see her go as she spends so much more time outside with them than I do :-)

Awesome!

“everything“

Test

 November is skittering away at a great pace - not sure where the time is gone but we are in the final countdown before leaving on our cruise tomorrow morning! The suitcases are sitting open, fully packed except for adding Carm’s suit and my gowns… the house has been made somewhat ready… Christina has been fully bombarded with document after document of stuff having to do with the house and pets - hopefully I haven't over documented… 

We are pretty much ready for winter - Carm has been puttering for weeks - now we are all done and ready for the (dreaded) snow to fly. The pool was put to bed late this year as the leaves were slow to fall off the trees - it was a relief to get it done last week.

I never thought that I would see the day, but there has been no CNN for well over a week…

Well, it's Friday morning and we are already at the airport getting ready for a long day of hurry up and wait! Ft Lauderdale here we come!

Awesome!

“new technology!”

“candlelight dinners”

“getting to the gate after trouble checking in“

Away we go

November is skittering away at a great pace - not sure where the time is gone but we are in the final countdown before leaving on our cruise tomorrow morning! The suitcases are sitting open, fully packed except for adding Carm's suit and my gowns… the house has been made somewhat ready… Christina has been fully bombarded with document after document of stuff having to do with the house and pets - hopefully I haven't over documented… 

We are pretty much ready for winter - Carm has been puttering for weeks - now we are all done and ready for the (dreaded) snow to fly. The pool was put to bed late this year as the leaves were slow to fall off the trees - it was a relief to get it done last week.

I never thought that I would see the day, but there has been no CNN for well over a week…

Well, it's Friday morning and we are already at the airport getting ready for a long day of hurry up and wait! Ft Lauderdale here we come!

Awesome!

"new technology!"

"candlelight dinners"

"getting to the gate after trouble checking in"

counting down

It's not been quite a week since I last wrote but it's been busy! Each day we've gotten a little more prepared for winter, even though we've been lured into a false sense that winter won't arrive with the record breaking warm weather we've had on some days. Today is cold and rainy which is what I'd expect for the beginning of November.

On Friday afternoon we had Mary & Gary, friends that we met camping in 2018, over for coffee. We had a great time getting to know them better! Saturday Jo Ellen, Don, Deirdre, and Chris came for a leisurely lunch (beef stew w yorkshire pudding). We hadn't all been together for YEARS which is crazy as we used to spend a lot of time together at work. We had a daily coffee ritual that lasted for decades before we started retiring. I think I was the first to go. It's crazy how we let time go by without getting together, but that will change! 

Sunday we were meant to meet up with Ken and Francine, but he woke up feeling ill, so we'll reschedule - don't want to take chances on getting sick with just ELEVEN days till we leave on our trip! I WILL NOT GET SICK THIS CRUISE. Louder for those in the back! I WILL NOT GET SICK THIS CRUISE!

The piles of clothes in the spare room have been shifted and re-arranged, tried on and some discarded. I have a huge pile of 'no go' and a smaller pile of 'maybe but most likely not'. And heaps of clothes that will make outfits for 10 dress up dinners, and 10 days in the sun. I think I'm bringing 4 bathing suits!

Our cabin is on the same deck as the pool so I foresee having a dip in the pool a few times a day. And there'll be a few beaches to visit as well :-) Need to get sandy in places you shouldn't!

Our medallions arrived yesterday!

Yesterday, Lupa endured 45 minutes of clipping - she was reasonably cooperative  😀 Adia gets off lightly with just a bit of time in her crate to keep her from tracking the hair that is flying every which way. Carm was pretty cooperative for his bout with the clipper blades - he's coiffed and ready for our vacation :-)

Today I met with Mom & Kirsten for some retail therapy :-) and some lunch. 

I've been feeling fantastic since the fast last week. I don't know why, but it seems to have bumped me back from feeling exhausted and unmotivated, to having energy to spare. I'm not hypomanic - I can sit down with a book and actually focus, which I can't do at all if I'm spiralling up, but I'm also not lying exhausted on the sofa all day 😅 It's great! I'm curious to try a fast again next time my mood drops to see if it actually helps or was just a coincidence. Yesterday I walked for 90 minutes (over 8km!) and still had enough energy to happily putter around the house :-)

I did a bit of reading about fasting and bipolar but there isn't a lot out there. What I did read was heartening though. I'm hoping that I have another way to keep in the centre! If you run across anything counter-fasting for bipolar please share it!

Awesome!

"friends together"

"getting to know new friends"

"leftover yorkshire pudding at 1am"

"the f'ing cranberry cake that I can't stop eating"

medallion

It's not been quite a week since I last wrote but it's been busy! Each day we've gotten a little more prepared for winter, even though we've been lured into a false sense that winter won't arrive with the record breaking warm weather we've had on some days. Today is cold and rainy which is what I'd expect for the beginning of November.

On Friday afternoon we had Mary & Gary, friends that we met camping in 2018, over for coffee. We had a great time getting to know them better! Saturday Jo Ellen, Don, Deirdre, and Chris came for a leisurely lunch (beef stew w yorkshire pudding). We hadn't all been together for YEARS which is crazy as we used to spend a lot of time together at work. We had a daily coffee ritual that lasted for decades before we started retiring. I think I was the first to go. It's crazy how we let time go by without getting together, but that will change! 

Sunday we were meant to meet up with Ken and Francine, but he woke up feeling ill, so we'll reschedule - don't want to take chances on getting sick with just ELEVEN days till we leave on our trip! I WILL NOT GET SICK THIS CRUISE. Louder for those in the back! I WILL NOT GET SICK THIS CRUISE!

The piles of clothes in the spare room have been shifted and re-arranged, tried on and some discarded. I have a huge pile of 'no go' and a smaller pile of 'maybe but most likely not'. And heaps of clothes that will make outfits for 10 dress up dinners, and 10 days in the sun. I think I'm bringing 4 bathing suits!

Our cabin is on the same deck as the pool so I foresee having a dip in the pool a few times a day. And there'll be a few beaches to visit as well :-) Need to get sandy in places you shouldn't!

Our medallions arrived today!

Today Lupa endured 45 minutes of clipping - she was reasonably cooperative today  😀 Adia gets off lightly with just a bit of time in her crate to keep her from tracking the hair that is flying every which way. Carm was pretty cooperative for his bout with the clipper blades - he's coiffed and ready for our vacation :-)

I've been feeling fantastic since the fast last week. I don't know why, but it seems to have bumped me back from feeling exhausted and unmotivated, to having energy to spare. I'm not hypomanic - I can sit down with a book and actually focus, which I can't do at all if I'm spiralling up, but I'm also not lying exhausted on the sofa all day 😅 It's great! I'm curious to try a fast again next time my mood drops to see if it actually helps or was just a coincidence. Yesterday I walked for 90 minutes (over 8km!) and still had enough energy to happily putter around the house :-)

I did a bit of reading about fasting and bipolar but there isn't a lot out there. What I did read was heartening though. I'm hoping that I have another way to keep in the centre! If you run across anything counter-fasting for bipolar please share it!

Awesome!

"friends together"

"getting to know new friends"

"leftover yorkshire pudding at 1am"

"the f'ing cranberry cake that I can't stop eating"

Fast or slow

I almost made the entire 60 hours but this morning at the 55 hour mark, I caved and broke my fast. My last fast was 44 hours so I feel that I exceeded! Honestly, I felt great until I woke up in the middle of the night feeling hungry and a bit sick… luckily I had prepared a jar of chia pudding with blueberries before I went to bed. I could have powered through the next few hours, but I was in a weakened mental state in the middle of the night… I ate half of it and crawled back into bed. 

I think my body likes these longer fasts as I felt fantastic and had more energy than I've had for a while. My mood was also good. I didn't feel deprived and honestly, for the most part it was very easy. I drank tons of coffee, tea, and water which kept me well hydrated and staved off the hunger. Oh sure, there were times that I was starving, but that usually only lasted several minutes and then I'd be fine. It wasn't much worse than a normal day when I'm trying to eat healthily.

This morning I ate the rest of the chia pudding, chased down with a protein drink, then a bit later I had a banana with peanut butter. For lunch I had broccoli, soy beans, roasted mushrooms, pumpkin seeds and tofu - I'm eating to rebuild my microbiome :-)

Fingers crossed that I got the health benefits from this longer fast! It is supposed to be excellent for my immune system and overall health - my hope is that it will prepare me for the onslaught of germs on the cruise!

The weather has blessed us with another few days of temps in the double digits - today's record setting high is 21C! Carm managed to eek in another round of golf which is a blessing as he hasn't been able to for 3 weeks…

Countdown to cruise! We dragged the suitcases upstairs yesterday so I can see what's what. I've started trying on outfits - I'm happy with some, but others, well, they'll be okay I guess, but they are strongly in the 'middle aged' woman on a cruise vibe. The purple 'sausage' dress actually looks a lot better than it did and so does the black cocktail dress. I re-tried on the sequin dress and gold silk gown and they are good too, so a win all around!

Awesome!

"55 hours!"

"chia pudding with blueberries - oh so delightful"

"crazy late October weather"

"dresses fitting"