"Nuff Said!

Go back two post, do not pass go.....

For some reason, blogger posted my latest post behind my blue mama post. If you want to know how the Hawaii trip ended, go back two post and read all about it.

Been In A Blue Funk Lately!

I hurt my neck this past weekend and have just been in a blue funk all week due to the pain and just not feeling up to par! So I decided to change the template of my blog and make it match my mood. Do you like the blue or the rose better?

Oh well, it won't be long til my neck is all better and I am back to my happy self once again. Blessings to you all!

All Good Things Must End!

Thought I should finish up the saga of the Hawaiian vacation since we have been home for almost a month now. So here is the final installment: Our last day in Maui was pretty uneventful. We had breakfast at the hotel and then Hubby went and had a massage on the beach. (I put the censored in because he is a little shy about being topless on the blog!) They had a little cabana set up and he got an hour long massage. He was feeling pretty good for our trip home.

The plane left Maui on time, we had a little mix up with the gate number for our departure and for some reason we had to change seats after the first leg of our flight home but we made it to the plane and we did get First Class seating on the way back. We flew from Maui to Kona and had about an hour layover there. There was a cute statue of two Hawaiian children. That airport is built on top of a lava flow.The picture is hazy due to the airplane windows but the dark strips are lava.
This Lava looks like what you typically see in pictures. Black tar like rocks with deep cracks in them. The airport looks like they just poured the concrete airstrips right over the top of it. It was not tilled up or anything planted on it. The airport is open air with just pavillions to wait for your flight under.

The flight left Kona a little late and was running late getting into Chicago. The seats were okay but not the great beds that we had on the trip from LA to Oahu. I was spoiled after that ride. Some people slept on this flight but we were mostly awake, reading our books or watching the movies. I could watch them but could not understand the dialog, fortunately they were pretty simple movies. Ice Age 2 and The Shaggy Dog, so most of the gags were visual. We were late arriving in Chicago and had to run to a different terminal to catch our connecting flight back to Houston. They said that it would be a 2 1/2 hour flight but in reality it was only about 2 hours from Chicago to Houston. It was a little hopper plane but had the nicest flight attendants of all the flights we flew. That is probably due to the fact they were not United Employees!

We arrive in Houston about 9am and lo and behold one of our bags does not show up. So we hike over to the lost baggage desk and I stay with the other luggage while Hubby goes to the counter. Guess who is behind the desk--Rude Employee #1- the same lady who was at the ticket counter on the flight out 8 days earlier. There was no mistaking it was the same woman, she had a freaky half afro/half corn row hair do! She had not become any friendlier in the last week either. She practically threw a claim ticket at Hubby and said the bag should come in on a 10:30 flight and to call that number to have it delivered to us. So Hubby and I call the hotel to come pick us up (minus one bag) and take us to get the car. Then we decide to go get something to eat and call the airline to try to get the bag delivered to Hubby's brother's house (where we are going to get some sleep because we are both exhausted by this point)

Oh, I should meantion that brother and family are not home, they are already in Dallas waiting on us to get there to have family birthday party for Hubby's grandmother and for us to pick up darling daughter. So we stop to eat and call airline about lost bag. There was no one intelligent enough to even take the address down and tell us when the bag might be delivered to us. So hubby was getting a little hot under the collar (BTW--hubby is the calm one in the family!)He finally told them to just forget about it, we would return to the airport and pick up the bag ourself. So hubby drops me off and I go into the baggage claim area to get the bag. Now, I have my ID, my claim ticket, and my luggage stubs all ready because I figure it is going to be a hassle to get this bag. I walk up to the baggage carousel and Rude Employee #1 is pulling bags off the conveyor belt. I see my bag, walk up to her and say "that is my bag, may I have it?" She says "I guess" and I walked off with the bag. She did not ask me for any ID or Claim tags, nothing! I don't believe she knew who I was because I had not gone up with Hubby to the lost bag counter. She just let me walk off with the bag. Once I got the bag in my hand though, I high tailed it out of there before she could change her mind.

We went to BIL house and took a shower and crashed for about 4 hours. Then we went out to dinner and came back and crashed again. We got up at 5 am the next morning and drove 6 hours to hubby's grandparents home (on the TX/OK border) and surprised his grandmother at her birthday party! Darling Daughter was happy to see us and waited a whole 90 seconds before asking "what did you bring me"? We enjoyed spending time with hubby's extended family before heading back to the Dallas area to hubby's parents house.

The next day was Sunday, so after going to church with his family (13 of us) we had a nice lunch at his parents before returning home (5 hour drive) Boy was it good to be back home and sleep in our own beds.

On the Road to Hana.....

Day seven of our vacation in Hawaii found us up at dawn again as we wanted to drive to Hana that day but still be back in time for a Luau that evening (can't leave Maui without having tried a Luau) So off we went down(and up) the curving roads to Hana. The area is very lush and green with many waterfalls along the way. We did find that the book "Maui Revealed" was obviously written with serious hikers in mind. One of the waterfalls the book writes about is The Three Bears. It gives very detailed instructions on how to get to the waterfalls from the main road. It talks about that it is a pretty easy walk but to watch out for the first step. So we are thinking, okay that means there is a 18" drop or something like that. Nooooo!!!! They mean that it is a 15 foot drop down an almost vertical rock wall. Ok as we already pointed out, I am both vertically and horizontally challenged, so I might could have gotten down but I sure was not going to be able to get back up. So we enjoyed the three bears from afar and left the rock climbing to the experts.

These two pictures are of the black sand beach near Hana. I have forgotten the name of the park it is located in. It was a well developed area but still quite a trek up and down to get to the beach. I was surprised that the sand was not hot since it was black. It is also more like smooth little pebbles than what we think of as sand. It was quite awesome to see.

By the time we got to Hana and had a terribly overpriced hamburger, it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for the Luau that night. While hubby was getting ready for the Luau, I snuck down and ordered up a massage on the beach for him the next morning as a birthday present. He was quite happy with his birthday gift. The Luau was fun with good food, and decent entertainment. The Luau we attended was held near Black Rock and they had a diver climb up on Black Rock with a torch and then dive off as the Luau was about to begin. I liked the fact that they said a prayer before they began the Luau. They had singing and dancing hula girls (and boys) and a fire dancer. Good Piggy! It was a nice relaxing way to celebrate Hubby's 40th birthday and to end our vacation.

And On The Sixth Day:

we rested (sort of)!

We really did not plan anything for the sixth day because it was a holiday and we figured the traffic would be really bad. This was the closest we came to actually sleeping in, I slept till about 8 or so and I think hubby might have made it till 9. We had a late breakfast in the hotel restaurant, The Beach Club. This is the view from our breakfast table. Nice relaxing way to start the day! The next three pictures are some of the pretty flowers that we came across on the property. The smell was just amazing.

So much for resting, we ended up getting the car and going to South Maui. We went out to Wailea and drove through the lava fields. That was cool. I always thought of lava as being the black cracked stuff that looks like tar but this was what was blown out and it is porous and red colored. Some of it is black but the red fields were so cool looking because they looked like someone had spray painted little balls of syrofoam and dumped it all over the place. Again the roads were very winding and narrow and the locals would run you over if you did not get out of the way.

We ate at a place called Lulu's that was supposed to be the best hamburger in the nation--Not! but pleasant place and nice waiter. Then we walked thru these little shops that were basically open booths and got some good deals on some jewelry and things for little K.

We got back to the hotel in time to have a nice dinner looking out over the beach area and watch all the crazy people shooting off fireworks. One guy had made a huge mound of sand (about 3 feet high) and was dropping all kinds of explosive down a hole in the center. Since fireworks are illegal in our area of TX it seemed like they were all doing something they shouldn't be doing but apparently it is legal there, even Wal Mart sells fireworks in Maui! We watched them for awhile but decided a bunch of drunk people on the beach shooting fireworks might be hazardous to our health! There were two young guys throwing bottle rockets and ever so often they would get confused as to which way the ocean was, that was our cue to get the heck out of there!!!!

One more full day of vacation left. Hubby's birthday, trip to Hana and a Luau all coming up!

Day 5- Let's go Snorkeling

Sorry I don't have any pictures of the snorkeling, it was a little overcast and the underwater pictures came out dark, so I can't show you any of the pretty fish we saw. These are pictures of the boat I took off their web page and the round one is a picture of the Molokini Crater, where we snorkeled.

I don't know what it is about us but we never get to sleep in on our vacations, it always seems like we have to get up early to get somewhere. I had reserved a Snorkel Cruise on the Four Winds II and we had to be at the harbor by 7 am, so up and at 'em early on Day 5. The boat was nice and they had some fruit and bagels with cream cheese for a light breakfast waiting for us. There was a photographer onboard who went around taking everyones picture for the video they sell at the end of the trip.

It took about an hour to get out to the site at the Molokini Crater where we were to snorkel. I have snorkeled two or three times previously but am nervous about jumping into the ocean. I tend to panic and hyperventilate. My husband has repeatedly told me that it would be virtually impossible for me to drown out there as I float really easily given that I am horizontally challenged (ie fat) That may be true but my brain does not believe it and reacts by causing me to hyperventilate. I waited until almost everyone else was in the water before I dared to go in. I grabbed a boggie board and in I went.

I reacted the same way I do with MRI's and Cat Scans---I panicked! But I worked through it the same way I do with the test, I just talk myself through it and if that does not work I pray or sing and usually that will calm me down. It took a few minutes to get comfortable with the water but soon I was laying on my board with my face in the water looking at all the pretty fish. After a little while, hubby got a leak in his mask and was getting water in his sinuses, poor thing, that did not feel good I am sure.

They served us a BBQ lunch (which by the way in Hawaii--BBQ means grilled burgers, hot dogs or chicken breast--not BBQ like you get in the south with BBQ sauce) It was pretty good, although I am not sure I like the ground beef in Hawaii, it taste a bit different than what I am used to. They included beer and soft drinks (wine too I think) but we stuck to the soft drinks.

After lunch, we snorkeled a bit more! This time I just jumped right in off the side of the boat, did not even use the ladder. I was quite proud of myself for conquering my fear of the water. The fish did not seem as brightly colored as the one's we saw in Cancun on our honeymoon but they were still very pretty and facinating to watch. On the way back to the harbor, we stopped briefly in what they call "Turtle Town" and were able to see several of the big Turtles swimming around.

Hubby is suseptable to motion sickness so he had taken 2 dramamine tablets (less drowsy formula) but still was feeling rather poorly by the time we got back to the harbor. We went back to the room and hubby crashed for awhile. Later that evening, we went to the Aloha Mixed Plate (thanks for recommending it JB) I had the Coconut Shrimp (Yummy) and Hubby had a plate with several native dishes on it, I can't remember what all it had but I think it was Mahi Mahi with some type of Mango Chutney, Poi, Salmon somthing or other, and of course no plate would be right without the sticky rice and macaroni salad.

Hubby unfortunately suffered for most of the day feeling like he was still on the boat, rising and falling. We called it a early night and slept well, dreaming of beautiful blue water and pretty fishes.

Sunday in Maui-Day 4

Sunday, we wake up to wet carpet again! It is a total pain because you can't get into the bathroom without gettting your feet wet and then you slide on the tile floor. So we decide that if the carpet is still wet when we get back this afternoon we want a new room. Hubby calls the front desk and tells them the carpet is wet again.

Blogging Friend Maui Mama invited us to go to church with her and stay for a picnic afterwards. It was a 4th of July theme service with all the national hymns and patriotic songs. They had a group of men perform a song in sign language. It was very impressive, they were totally in sync with each other.

We enjoyed spending time with Maui Mama and her family. I have not asked her for permission to post the picture we took so I will not post it. The picnic was held across the street at a park. They had set up a waterslide for the kids and a pool. They had 5 young people baptized in that pool that day, it was great to be able to witness that. The congregation was very friendly, with lots of good food at the picnic. It was great to be with people who actually live on the island rather than just around the tourist spots.

Later in the day we went to IOA Valley State Park. All the pictures above were taken there. It was a beautiful area of greenery and streams. There were some beautiful pools but idiot people jumping off of the bridge into the pools from 20 or 30 feet up (in spite of signs everywhere telling you not to jump from bridge). One man was allowing his 6 or 7 yr old son to jump off the bridge. Hubby had to hold me back to keep me from slapping him silly! (Sorry, the child abuse investigator in me rears it head occasionally!) It was a little blonde headed boy so it was not like a native hawaiian who had done it all his life!

We made a stop at Wal- Mart for some supplies we needed for the snorkel boat the next day. We got off without any beach towels so we picked up some cheap ones and a couple of snorkel mask (apparently we got a cheap one of those too because mine broke the first time I tried to use it). We also picked up some groceries, whew people in Maui pay a lot for stuff. A box of wheat thins was almost $4., Milk is about $8. a gallon and gasoline is about $3.62, almost a dollar a gallon more than here.
I noticed that cars were expensive too, even used cars demanded a high price.

We got back to the hotel, and I feel the carpet--yeah, it is dry! Until we turn on the A/C! So we went down and they offered us a room on the sixth floor with not as good of a view. The first room had been on the 9th ( they called it the Penthouse floor) and it was right in the center of the hotel (hotel was shaped like a U with a courtyard in the middle with two pools, a gazebo and a restaurant.) We went and checked it out, and while the view was not as pretty, the room was much better, it was bigger, airier, had great ventalation and two windows. We could have done without the A/C in this new room but not in the old one. The first room was long and narrow, with the rooms stacked one behind the other. This one was kind of triangle shaped, with better furniture (not as good of a kitchen but we did not cook anyway!) So we moved and were much happier with the new room, which did not have any water leaks that we were aware of!

We had a lovely dinner at the hotel that night. (part of the package we bought included a credit in their dining room) then off to dream land before we departed on our Snorkel Cruise on Day 5!

Maui-Day 3

Because we did not have a car, we were at the mercy of the transfer company as to when we went to the airport for our flight to Maui. They picked us up at 7 am for a 10:30 flight. We thought, no problem they probably have several hotels to stop at before the airport so we won't be waiting at the airport that long--WRONG. We are the only stop and we are at the airport by about 7 30 or so. The Aloha Airlines have nice, efficent, polite employees. We were greeted with smiles and asked would we like to go to Maui on an earlier flight? Sure, so we were boarding a plane by 8 am. No semi-strip searches, just polite people! The flight to Maui is very short. Basically they walk down the aisle and throw little cups of guava juice at you and then turn around and want the trash before we land!

So we arrive in Maui, all our luggage arrives in Maui. We ride the little bus over to the car rental place. Nice employees again--All right-- this vacation is getting better and better! We pick up the rental car-- a blue convertable (blue is hubby's favorite color--last four cars have been blue- we own two blue ones now!) so we put the top down and head to the hotel. Life is Good in Maui!!!!!

Maui has some traffic but nothing like Oahu. There is a constant breeze blowing, sometimes it becomes quite a wind storm but most of the time it is just a good breeze going on. We are driving past mountains and beautiful shoreline, gorgeous boats on the water, parks with people surfing. Life is REAL Good in Maui!

Get to the Hotel--Kaapanali Shores- we pull up and the bell hop greets us and tells us to just leave the car there and go register and then he will help us with the bags. Alright, polite employees--looking good. The hotel was older but you could tell they put a lot of time into keeping it looking nice. We check in and the lady could have been nicer but she was okay. The room is good, it is being reneivated in stages. So it has new paint, new carpet, new furniture but the cabinets in the kitchen and appliances are a little old. (Top two pictures above are the living room of hotel room and view from the balcony. Did I mention that it has a gorgeous view from the balcony? ) Still very satisfactory--gorgeous view out the balcony! We are very happy, until I take off my shoes and walk into the bedroom and step in a huge wet spot on the carpet. The spot is right between the bedroom and the bathroom, can't get to either room without stepping in it. First thing I do is make sure it is water and not dog pee or something equally disgusting. Nope it is just water and we figure it is coming from the A/C (we are right!) So we call downstairs, they say they will take care of it right away.

We have reservations for a Magic Show at 5 pm, several hours to kill, so we decide to go drive the West side of Maui and see the shore and the blowholes and stuff that is described in "Maui Revealed" (thanks for the recommendation JB) (BTW- we highly recommend this book if you are going to Maui--very helpful) On the way out of hotel we go by the front desk because there were supposed to be tickets left for us for two of the excursions I had purchased online before we left the mainland. So we remind them at the front desk that there is a big water spot on the carpet in our room would they please try to take care of it. Sure, they would take care of it. The front desk did not have our tickets so they told us to check with Concierge Desk. Now the Concierge Desk has a big sign over it that says "EXPEDIA and Concierge" but it should just say EXPEDIA because when hubby asked about the tickets, the rude employee (I have lost count of what number she is) said to him "Did you buy it from expedia?" Hubby says "No" and before he can say anything about the front desk sending us over. She says"then we don't have it" and turned her back on him!" How Rude! Maybe in Maui Concierge means something different then it does everywhere else in the world!

We stopped for lunch in a strip mall and found a wonderful craft fair going on, so we were able to pick up a dress and some stuff for darling daughter, very cheap. Coastline is beautiful, very winding and scary at times when you meet the locals on these very narrow roads. The water was beautiful, different shades of blue depending on if there was coral present. Very windy! (Picture is of the shoreline in West Maui, it was kind of overcast so the colors are not coming thru as clear as they were in person.) We spent several hours exploring the coast line. We got back to the hotel about 3 30 or 4 00.

Guess what the carpet is still wet! So I got a bath mat from the housekeeping staff (very polite lady--who offered to call about the wet carpet) She managed to get someone up there in about 10 minutes time. In fact I was in the shower and I could hear them sucking up the water with a wet vac right outside the door--I was glad I had shut and locked the door (don't usually if it is just me and hubby!) So Now we know that housekeeping has the power in this hotel! Good info to know!

We went to see a show called Warren and Annabelle. Annabelle is a ghost who plays the piano and Warren is a magician and comedian. I don't want to say too much about it in case someone reading this decides to go but it was a great evening and if you have the chance you should go. I had emailed them that I needed to sit towards the front due to my lipreading and they reserved us the two seats right in the middle down front and I was able to get most of the show through lipreading and had a great view of the tricks. Very Funny Show and very nice employees!

We get back to the hotel and you guessed it, the carpet is wet again. So we called and let them know and went to bed with wet carpet but nice Maui dreams! Tomorrow, Church with Maui Mama!

Oahu-Day 2

Blogger is not letting me put the pictures where I want them. The beach scene above left is on Oahu. The man on the right is our tour guide, Peter.

This was the oceanview (and other hotel view) from the 17th floor of the Waikiki Beach Marriott. The room was clean and nice. The bed was very soft and comfy. As part of our package, we had a free breakfast with the room. The buffet was very good but we had to get up early (5 am) so we could catch our bus at 6:15 am.

First stop: Pearl Harbor. Our bus driver was a 72 year old native Hawaiian. His name was Peter. Pictured above in the big hat and green shirt. Peter scared me half to death right off the bat, by turning onto a one way street and in trying to compensate and get back onto the main street almost hit a street sign with the side of the bus (I was sitting next to the window!) He told us the story of eating breakfast with his family as a 7 year old, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. His parents yelled for him to leave his breakfast and come with them, he said that he had a hole in the seat of his pajamas and did not want to get up and go with them. His babysitters' house burned down from fallout from the attack. Pearl Harbor was quite interesting and moving to visit. They have reflective captioning so I was able to understand the movie they show about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We were able to pick up a flag that had flown above Pearl Harbor for hubby's grandfather. He is a WWII veteran and we thought he might like to have that.

After touring Pearl Harbor, we reboarded our little bus and started on a circle tour of the island. We went to the Dole Plantation (mostly just a tourist stop now) and had some yummy pineapple ice cream! Then we made our way around the island, stopping at various places along the way. Blowholes, beaches and a Macadamia nut farm. We also spent some time in front of Peter's house where he pointed out several trees in his yard and several of his relatives houses in the neighborhood (still don't know what was up with that!) It was a long day but we were able to see a lot more of Oahu than we would have seen on our own. Traffic in Oahu is bad and I would not want to drive there.

That evening we walked along the beach and ended up having a "Cheeseburger In Paradise". It was fun for us because our Life Group had just had a Karoke night and that was one of the songs that we sang. The cheeseburger was good but the chocolate desert was better! We ended the evening with a short stroll on the beach before heading back up to the room.

Off to bed for us, for tomorrow we go to MAUI!

Trip to Hawaii- Part 1

I know that it is going to take several post to tell you all about our awesome trip to Hawaii! Let me start off by saying that my husband has been very blessed in the last few years with his company and is a Manager with a major aerospace company. We are not rich (except spiritually) but are doing okay and have no debt except for the mortgage. I say all that so you don't get the wrong idea when I tell this story.

Because this was a 15 year anniversary and a 40th birthday celebration, we decided that we would splurge and go First Class. It almost doubled the cost of the trip for us but we decided that it was worth it, not to be cramped and uncomfortable for 15 hours travel time. I have flown 1st class only one other time in my life and that was a free upgrade on a one hour trip from Dallas. So this is not a way of life for us!

We took darling daughter to my parents on June 27th and spent the night with them. (Bed #1) and then drove to Houston on the 28th and stayed in a hotel that night (Bed#2) We checked the internet and the flight to Denver was scheduled, no problems. We went to bed early and got up at 4 :30 to catch our plane to Denver.

When we arrived at Intercontiental and went to check in with United, we were told that the crew did not show up for our flight to Denver, the plane would be delayed for 3 hours and we would not be able to make the connecting flight in Denver to Honolulu. The woman (rude employee #1) behind the desk obviously did not like her job, she was totally without emotion. United put us on a Contiential flight to LA (coach- about a 4 hour flight) and when we arrived in LA we were to catch a United Flight to Honolulu (also coach because they had no room in first class) They would not refund any of our money, said we would have to work it out with the company later. I am in tears by this point, our dream vacation is crumbling right before our eyes. Not to meantion that we had spent quite a bit of money for first class seats that we were not getting.

We were high tailing it from one terminal to another when lo and behold, because they had reissued the tickets that morning, we were flagged with the dreaded quadruple S and subject to extra security messures. So I am standing in the airport bawling as they pat me down and search my luggage. Well, it is hard to lip read when you are crying. So it was terribly confusing. Finally, we get thru security and get onto the plane bound for LA. Did they put us in the back or the plane?--No they put us two seats back from 1st class so we had a perfect view of all the wonderful pleasures that first class was enjoying. Our flight attendant (rude employee #2) on this flight also apparently loved (not) her job. I was beginning to think that there were no nice people in the airline business.

Once we got to LA things began to get a little better. We found out that the plane to HNL was going to be delayed by about 1/2 an hour but they were replacing our plane with a larger one, so we were able to get the first class seats. The two flight attendants on this flight were very good. Friendly, kind and efficient. They even gave us a box of Macadamia nuts as a gift. The plane was a 747 with sleeper chairs (made into beds) with little individual monitors and movies. That was more like it. So the 5 hour flight to HNL was much, much better than the trip to LA.

We arrived in HNL about 3 pm their time, which was about 8pm our time. It had already been a long day. They crammed about 12 of us into a passanger van and took us to the hotel. Traffic in Oahu is horrible. The bus driver was cutting people off and swerving into traffic, all the while keeping up a steady commentary about the island. He punctuated everything by raising his index finger above his head! Quite a character!

It was close to 5 pm when we arrived at the Waikiki Beach Marriott. Beautiful Hotel with a beautiful courtyard! We go to register and we have two rooms, which have both been paid for in full. Will they give us a refund on one, nope! We will have to work it out with the tour company later. The room is lovely with what they call a full oceanview ( I would have called it partial because you had to be standing dead center on the balcony to see the ocean but it was nice!) We ate at the hotel and enjoyed a good buffet and some ukele playing. We were pretty pooped so went to bed a little early that night (bed #3)!

So was the 1st day of our vacation! Six more days to go! To Be Continued!

Home From Hawaii!

Aloha! We are back home from a wonderful trip to Oahu and Maui, Hawaii! It was so beautiful there! We had a great time but are totally exhausted! I promise I will write all about it soon but not tonight! My bed is calling my name. I have slept in 7 different beds over the last 12 nights and am really looking forward to my own!

This picture was taken from our hotel room in Maui! Beautiful isn't it! More to come I promise! Blessings to all! Night Night!

Peaceful Day!

Today was one of those rare peaceful days. I had a lot of stuff I wanted to accomplish today but just did not feel rush or pulled in different directions today. I like days like this.

We did errands this morning going to about 3 different places to get the things we needed and then were home by about 12:30. We had leftovers for lunch and then darling daughter went to neighbors house to play. I was able to get some laundry and cleaning done around the house. Did some reading on the blogs. Chatted with my Mom on IM. Not quite as good as hearing her voice but still great to be able to communicate with her.

What can I say, it was just a nice, peaceful day! Thank you Lord for a day to recharge my batteries and feel content. Thank you for my A/C working during this hot weather we are having too. I hope this finds you all having a blessed week!

Finally got my rug replaced!

Don't remember if I blogged about this or not but I bought a rug from a store (that shall remain nameless--it is a big ball of gas in the night sky) and after about two weeks it started to come unraveled at the edge. The lady I bought it from told me that I had an unconditional 30 day warranty on it, so I call up the customer service department to arrange an exchange.

Well, of course nothing is ever as simple as they make it sound...I could not just bring it back, they had to send out someone to see the damage. So I had to wait for someone to come out and tell me that "yep it was coming unraveled" and "yes, they would give me a new one". He said it would be a month or more because they had to make the rug at the factory. This was around the end of March or the beginning of April. He told me they would call me when it came in and bring out the new one. Really nice, professional guy--I believed him (Silly Me!)

Fast forward to June and still no rug. So hubby calls and they tell him that it is waiting for us at the warehouse and has been there for some time. So I load up the rug to go exchange it (what happened to delivering it to me?) and I get there today and of course no one knows where it is. Finally after about 20 minutes (of my 8 year old feigning death because she is "soooooo hungry!") They locate (or so we think) the rug on the showroom floor so off we go, the warehouse guy carring the old rug and me and my 8 yr old following him thru the warehouse into the back door of the store. The rug showman does not know where the rug is, so after another 10 minutes, they finally locate it. It takes 4 men, 30 minutes to find a rug that I spotted the minute we got on the showroom floor.

Oh well, All's well that ends well. I have a new rug which does not appear to have any damage or unraveling edges. Hopefully, this one will last a long time, because it was not cheap! I still like this particular furniture store but they need to work on their customer service! In this particular case, it is "All about Me" because I paid for the rug! :0)

After all, it IS all about me, RIGHT?

I just finished reading a blog in which a preacher was complaining about flying and basically said some rather unkind things about overweight people on airplanes. Being a both vertically and horizontally challenged person (i.e. short and fat!) I guess I could take offense about what he had to say but really it just got me thinking about some other things.

It is all about me, right?

Most of the things that we get upset about are things that we feel we have been inconvienced by. I get upset because the guy in the car in front of me does not merge like he is supposed to but stops in the middle of the road. The unjustness of that guy making me slow down or "gasp" even wait for him.

What about the person in the "fast" check out line with 11 items when they should only have 10! The person counting out pennies to pay their bill, when I am ready to go with my money in hand? How dare they inconvience me!

How dare that overweight person brush my shoulder as they pass by me in the airplane on the way to squeeze their 250 lb body into a restroom made for a 100 lb body! (never mind, that my shoulders extend into the aisle--it is all about me!)

Where in the world did we come up with this idea that we are the most important person in the world? That our time is more valuable than anyone elses, that our needs are more pressing!

It did not come from Jesus Christ! He stressed over and over to us through his teachings that we were to be servants.

Even the disciples had trouble with this concept. Remember James and John wanting to sit on either side of Christ in his Kingdom. The other disciples got upset over their request and this is what Jesus told them:

Mark 10:
⁴³Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

I am as guilty as anyone regarding these things. I see this characteristic in my child and I want to change it in both of us. So I pray, "Lord please help me to put others first and to teach my child to put others first!"

Mostly, I pray, "Lord help me remember...It is not about me......IT'S ABOUT YOU!"

Praise The Lord!

I survived Vacation Bible School. We even managed without our team leader today. Kuddos to Lynette for taking over as team leader. We wrapped over 900 (don't have an exact count) "pigs in a blanket" today! Every year we make these and we wrap little smokies until our fingers bleed (well almost) and then because each child only gets two of them, my daughter always wants me to make them for her at home. The last thing I want to do is make any more "Pigs In A Blanket"!!!!!!! YUCK!!!!

Oh well, it is over now and I am looking forward to the weekend. I have a date with my hubby tonight, don't know where we are going or what we are going to do but am happy to have a night out with him. So, I need to go clean up a little for the babysitter. Not too much, she knows I am not a neat freak but still need to pick up a little. Happy Father's Day Weekend! Blessings!

VBS Week

I was reading another blog about VBS and thought I would make that my topic today. VBS is in full swing at the church this week. This church goes all out for VBS and apparently it works because we always have a full house. We have reached the point that we have to limit the enrollment because we have more kids than we can keep up with and feed. I am not saying that we can't afford to feed them but just don't have the space in the kitchen to prepare for them. Also we would not have enough adult and teen helpers to adequately supervise them.

I have served in several roles during VBS since we moved her in 2000. The first summer I worked in Preschool doing a video. The second and third year, I did Crafts and the last three years I have been in the kitchen. It is hot in there but that seems to fit my personality the best. I feel like I am contributing but I am not right in the middle of 400 kids. That gets confusing when you can't hear so well.

The first three years I came down with pneumonia after VBS and I have not had it since I have been in the kitchen away from the kids (coincidence.....maybe, maybe not!) I am glad the kids have VBS, it gives them a church activity to do during the summer. Our church is blessed with a great Children's Ministry and they are great at keeping the kids busy during the summer. This is the activity that we open to the public (as much as we can) and so it is a great outreach program. There are several other programs in the summer that are pretty much limited to the kids in our congregation or sometimes in combination with another church or two.

Sometimes I think we go to too much trouble with the elaborate VBS and the kids would be just as happy with cookies and kool-aid and puppet shows. But maybe I need to get with the times, the kids today are used to state of the art stuff and old time-y VBS would probably bore them to tears.

So tomorrow morning we will jump right back into the swing of things and make another 100 or so home made ice cream sandwiches to go with the 250 or so we have already made (preschool just gets cookies). The kids will love it and the parents will love that they are having a good time. The rest of the week we will have pizza (weds), fruit (thurs), pigs in blankets (friday) and then snow cones and popcorn at the wrap party after VBS is over on Friday. And on Sat. we will rest!

Maybe tomorrow I will have a chance to walk through Bethlehem and see how the church has been transformed (did not even get a potty break today!) Hope your week holds many blessings for all of you. If my feet hold out and I don't catch pneumonia, I know that I will come away from VBS with countless blessings!

100th post- Funny Story!

This is my 100th post to this blog- I found this story thru Dee--Enjoy!

"A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman hit the roof, and the horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.

He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door.

She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him.

"I noticed the 'Choose Life' license plate holder, the 'What Would Jesus Do' bumper sticker, the 'Follow Me to Sunday- School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian Fish emblem on the trunk.

Naturally... I assumed you had stolen the car."

Enjoy your Saturday! Blessings!

Bronchitis!

After being sick since last wednesday, I finally went to the doctor yesterday. I have bronchitis secondary to an infection, so now I am on some good drugs and hopefully on my way to recovering soon. I can already tell a difference as I am not coughing near as much or as hard.

Today was my therapy day for the cochlear implant and Lo and Behold, my therapist has either quit or been sacked. I had a totally different therapist today who obviously had not been given any information about my case. So it was like starting over from scratch. I like the new therapist well enough (I liked the old one too!) and she seems to want to help me. She is going to prepare some material for me so that I can do most of the work from home, that will work well for me as it is hard to find babysitters during the summer.

I took lil K to buy a new dress today for a wedding she will attend with my parents while her Dad and I are in Hawaii! What is the deal with the brown stuff? Everything was either brown or white! I am not crazy about her in brown and white for a wedding was not a good thing. I ended up getting her an aqua and white striped dress but may try to find something else before the wedding or maybe she will wear something she already has (easter dress maybe!) I think I overdid it with the shopping and the therapy today, so I am ready to hit the hay! Have a good evening everybody!

The Shrine of The Mouse!

Let's face it Walt Disney was a genius! How else can you explain why rational, sane people would want to spend tons of money, to go on vacation and run themselves to death. We had a great time but seriously need a vacation to get over our vacation.

We took lil K out of school early on the last day of school solely because it saved us over $500. in airfare to leave a day early! She got straight A's on her report card, I think she will be okay! We flew into Orlando on SW, it was cheap and it was a direct flight, can't get much better than that! We followed the white Mickey glove to our ride on the Magical Express (bus service) to the beautiful Port Orleans Riverside hotel. After checking in and getting some dinner at the food court (food was expensive and okay, nothing to write home about!) we returned to our room to find our luggage had been delivered safe and sound (always a good start to a vacation, when your luggage arrives in one piece.) Lil K and big K took a dip in the pool while I unpacked.

The first day was spent at Animal Kingdom, where lil K got her hair wrapped (something she had been planning for several weeks) and we rode some rides, saw some shows. Then the bottom dropped out of the sky and we got very, very wet!
Luckily it was close to closing time so we just headed back to the hotel. It cleared up and we all went swimming again after dinner.

Day two was spent at MGM, where we learned lil K is our roller coaster loving baby. She would not ride Tower of Terror but loved the roller coasters. It was at MGM that I ran into my good friend David G. who I grew up with and had not seen in several years. Talk about small worlds! Unfortunately, we did not get to visit long because we both had places to be, we had Beauty and the Beast to see and then a Hoop Dee Doo Review reservation that evening. Hoop Review was great, the food was pretty good and the show was corny but very entertaining.

Day three was spent at Magic Kingdom in the morning, a break for swimming and a short rain storm in the afternoon and then dinner at Cinderella's castle in the evening. We had a good dinner and were able to watch the fireworks from the castle windows. Lil K enjoyed the characters and big K enjoyed the fireworks and the castle. Me, I enjoyed making my people so happy. Magic Kingdom had late hours that night so we were able to enjoy the park in the cooler night air and with much shorter lines after our dinner.

Day four and five were spent at Epcot, which is my husband favorite park. It was there we ran into a second friend from college. It is really odd when you are far from home and you run into people you know. We had reservations for Rose and Crown for dinner at Epcot. It was great, we ate on the patio and had front row seats for the Illuminations show that night. Soaring at Epcot is a great ride, be sure and go early and get a fast pass to ride it (it is so popular that the fast passes run out by about 2 pm) It is a stimulator ride and you feel like you are in a glider going over all these different places, mountains, water, fields, Disney World...too cool!

The last day we were at Disney, we went to the Grand Floridian and had a character breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice, The Mad Hatter, Tigger and Pooh. The food was pretty good and the hotel is lovely.

The first time we went to Disney in 2004, I did not get any dinner reservations or character meals. This time we did and it was well worth it. If you are going and you have younger children, it is worth it to book the reservations. The kids really get a kick out of getting the characters autographs and talking to them.

Like I said before Walt Disney is a genius. He got this notoriously stingy, cheap person to shell out big bucks to wait in long lines, get pushed around by sweaty people, eat horribly expensive so-so food and be seriously sleep deprived all week. Yet I had a great time and can't wait to go back and do it all again! Maybe there is something in the water?

We actually did not do that much damage. We limited lil K on what she could buy, so we did not end up with a bunch of cheap junk. She got her hair wrapped and her face painted and bought a couple of things with money from her grandparents but we did not buy a lot of stuff in the parks. I had bought a few things for her at the dollar store before we went, like the glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces that are so expensive in the parks, I got them for $1 and gave them to her before we went out at night. We stayed in a moderate resort but only because the cheaper ones were all booked up. You can do Disney on a budget if you try really hard. It is a really cool place to go if you can manage it. The attention to detail is just incredible. If you are not familiar with Disney theme parks and the things I have been writing about, just go to disney.com and you can find pictures of everything there.

Other than the long lines and hot weather. the only negative things that happen were that big K lost his favorite hat and I caught this awful cold! We are still hoping someone will find his hat and I am slowly getting over this cold.

Sorry for the long post but that was our trip to Disney! If I ever figure out how to post pictures maybe I can show you some of our fun times. I think I will try to make that my goal to figure out how to post pictures by the time we get back from Hawaii, because I know you will want to see those pictures!