Clean and tidy

I like things clean and tidy. Unfortunately I don't like to make things clean and tidy. What we have here is a failure to communicate - within myself! And so I do nothing.

April 14, 2012 - On Board the Oasis of the Seas

After a long day of flying and circling Fort Lauderdale for 30 minutes waiting out a thunderstorm, we finally got to go to the ship.  We didn’t leave the Courtyard Marriott until about 12:15.  I had all our paperwork easily at hand as we entered the cruise terminal. 

Checking in was a breeze for us mainly, we think, because our cabin was on deck 12 one shy of the uppermost deck with one level cabins.  Yes, Oasis of the Seas has loft cabins with balconies.  Not sure I’d want to have to go up and down stairs in my stateroom.   Anyway, we were finally on board around 1:30 or 2.

We put our carry-on in the cabin, looked around and then went up to the Windjammer Café for lunch. It was crowded.  We ended up sitting on stools and eating.  That done it was back to the room for pictures.

We had a Junior Suite.  Ours was next door to a Royal Suite (which actually has a door bell.)  We never heard anything from the people next door though we know it was occupied.  They were coming in when we’d gone to lunch and a kid breezed right in and left Mom struggling to get a suitcase in the door.  John held the door for her and we got a quick glimpse of the suite – couldn’t tell much about it.

One reason we get a Junior Suite is because we like bathtubs, not showers most of the time.  The tub in our unit was huge!  I was longer than our tub at home which is 6 inches longer than standard and it was also at least 3 inches deeper than ours.  I could actually lay down enough to get hot water up to the top of my shoulders without having to bend my knees.  It wasn’t as wide as our one at home but that’s not a big deal.

Next was the closet.  Again, it was huge!  We could have stored all our suitcases as well as all our clothes in just the closet.  We even had empty drawers and empty shelves on the trip – unheard of!

Royal Caribbean does something really nice with their Junior Suites – they make them wider than the normal staterooms.  It may be less than a foot wider but it makes an amazing difference in how large the room feels – no more bumping your shins on the vanity stool as you skirt the bed.

We took pictures of the cabin, including the obligatory I’m taking a picture of John taking a picture of me.  His managed to get me front and back as I was standing in front of a mirror.

Our cabin was on the port side, just aft of midship.  That meant we never saw a dock from our ship.  When we boarded there was a smaller cruise ship docked across from us, Regent Cruise Line’s Navigator of the Seas.  She holds less than 500 people (Oasis holds more than 6100 with double occupancy and sometimes a third or fourth person on the sofa bed.)  I checked out the Navigator after we got home.  She’s a bit pricy but I may decided we’d like to take the Northeast cruise from New York to Montreal sometime.

We also got a picture looking forward on the ship from our balcony.  She is a HUGE ship.

Supplies used: Amy Martin Template (Lots of em Templates2-04), background paper - Brandy Buffington, Destination Anywhere, Borders - Amy Wolf - Paper Strips - #3.

From Albuquerque to Fort Lauderdale cont.

We ate breakfast at the Waffle House and were on the 5 a.m. shuttle to the Sunport (we leave our car at the Comfort Inn while were gone – it’s cheaper than putting it in one of the park-and-fly places plus we almost always spend the night at the Comfort Inn on our return home anyway.)

We were in the “B” section of boarding Southwest. From Albuquerque to Houston we sat in the back of the plane. We had a tail wind so we got there ten minutes early. That gave us 55 minutes before our flight to Fort Lauderdale took off. I’d been a bit concerned about the 45 minute turn-around but the gate we were going out on was only two or four gates from the one we came in on. Again we were in the “B” section for boarding but we still got to sit together. We were 15 minutes late in taking off from Houston and once we got to the Fort Lauderdale area we had to circle for 30 minutes before we could land.

Once on the ground it was the same old game of waiting for the Marriott shuttles/trailers to come get us. There were probably 50 or 60 of our 91 person group on our early flight. Also, I’d only had a couple of granola bars since eating breakfast at 4 a.m. and it was now almost 1 New Mexico time. My blood sugar was dropping. Our luggage, including the carry-ons, made it to the first wave of vehicles going to the hotel but there weren’t any seats for us.

Finally we made it to the Courtyard Marriott. We got to our room, not a good view but the room was nice, if arranged a little oddly. The bed was against a wall so that we could look out the window over our feet. But since we kept the curtains closed it wasn’t all that bad.

Around 5 local time, after I had a soda and Ritz Bits Cheese crackers earlier, we went to the Outdoor World nearby. It’s within walking distance. We ate at the seafood restaurant there. We both had grouper sandwiches, John’s was a Ruben, mine was a restaurant special, and shared a key-lime pie for dessert. Now I know I like grouper and can eat it again if offered on a menu. The pie was made in a large soup cup. The crust was a bit thick but there was plenty of filling for both of us and it was delicious.

After dinner it was into the Bass Pro store to buy matching t-shirts. I was planning on buying matching t-shirts on the cruise anyway, just didn’t expect to have to get so many. We bought two sets. Unfortunately the Bass Pro t-shirts have their designs on the back, not the front so you have to see us going to know we match. I also discovered that my Disney fannypack’s waist belt was about to tear through so I picked up a Jantzsport bag. Then it was off to bed.

We didn’t need to check out of our room until 11 so we spent most of the morning there. It gave me a chance to record some things on the laptop.

From Albuquerque to Fort Lauderdale

Friday, April 13, 2012

Neither one of us slept well last night. And we hadn’t slept well the night before. We had a 6:20 flight out of Albuquerque and had set an alarm and put in a wake-up call for 3:45. We were awake and up by 3:20. After he got up John started rummaging through is suitcase then he told me he’d forgotten to pack up his matching t-shirts. We always were matching t-shirts when we travel unless the occasion warrants dressier clothing. I’d seen him get them out but in his packing he moved them to his dresser where all his matching t-shirts are stacked. Guess they didn’t make it into the suitcase. (We found them neatly stacked on the dresser when we finally got home eight days later.) So, without John’s t-shirts I wasn’t going to be wearing mine. I put them all in a trash bag I’d brought along and had John put them in the trunk of the car. Continued -

Supplies used: Background and small strip of paper by Connie Crook (RAK SCRAPS Jul 09), fish is by Barb Eibel also RAK SCRAPS Jul 09. Title Font is Italianate 40 pt. Journaling Font is Comic Sans 24 pt.

Are We in a Rut?

On Thursday, May 12, 2012 John and I embarked on a vacation of a lifetime - a cruise on the Oasis of the Seas. This layout is about our usual routine when we have to fly out of Albuquerque early in the morning (before 10 a.m.) We always board our animals at Pet Suites in Santa Fe. We always stay at the Comfort Inn at the Airport. We always have dinner at Applebee's (though John doesn't always do his Wilson imitation.) And, we always get breakfast at the Waffle House at some un-holy hour of the morning (this time about 3:45 a.m.) When I was planning this layout I wondered if we might be in a rut.

Scrap supplies used:
Template from Get It Scrapped. All papers are from Designer Digitals Help Haiti collaboration. Designers include Katie Pertiet, Lynn Grieveson, and Andrea Victoria.

15 Grammar Goofs

This doesn't show the whole thing. Everyone needs to know these rules. Just ask my daughter! To show the whole thing click on this link http://www.copyblogger.com/grammar-goofs/


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Using Scrapbook Products for Inspiration

I'm taking an on-line class at Creative Passions called "Finding Your Inspiration Station." In lesson three there was a discussion on using Products for inspiration. I didn't think I ever used products for my inspiration but then I realized that's exactly what I'd done for the cards I'd made for the ladies of my TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) Chapter. Easter was coming and I wanted to make some quick cards for them. So, while on a shopping trip to the new Walmart in Santa Fe, I found blank note cards with a cute little bunny sitting in a watering can and the word "Hello" on it. Then, in the craft section, I found a package with four different colored foam alphabet stickers and in the greeting card section I found a package of flower-and-flying-bugs (butterflies and dragonflies) stickers. On another trip I added ribbons from Michael's.
I decorated the inside of the cards instead of the outside like I'd normally do. I used small dixie cups to form the circle around the stickers and serve as a guide for the letters. I used a glue runner to lay down the glue for a single strip of ribbon on the bottom. Once I had the stickers and letters stuck down, I erased the guides. Aside from sorting the letters I'd need, it took about 20 minutes per card to make.
Scrap Supplies used - Papers are by Amy Teets; fancy swirls are Photoshop Brushes by BSilva