Time to Go

The day has come.  Today was our last full day in Paradise.  The time seemed to go by much to quickly.

I was a little concern this morning that it would be a rainy day.  The sky was full of dark clouds.  But they just kept moving across the sky until they disappeared over the horizon.  It became a bluetiful day.  We got in the pool for awhile but mostly just enjoyed the day.  I tried to soak it all up to get me through the dullrums of winter.

It is time to leave  but it is ok because we have so much to go home to.

All Around Good Day

 Today was just an all around good day. Just one of those relaxing days.  We sat by the pool most of the day.   It was overcast all day but no rain.  It threatened a few times  though.  We were going to get in the pool but is was just a little chilly for that.  I did get a ten minute massage by the pool though.  It was pretty good.  When the therapist saw me she got a big grin and said I remember you.  You were here last year.  I thought wow what a memory.  I couldn’t pick her out in a line up.  I thanked her for remembering me and she said I remembered your eyes.  

The Buddy sent me the link for the Youth Cultural Celebration so I got to watch it.  I really enjoyed it.  Everyone involved should be so pleased........and relieved it is over.

Our days here are winding down.  Can’t believe it’s about time to go back to the real world.

Tonight is the football game.  Hope I am not up as late as I was last week.

Lots to be Thankful For

Do you ever just look around at your surroundings and think wow am I ever lucky.  I did that a lot today.  Maybe it is with Thanksgiving coming up or what but I did a lot of reflecting today and I am one lucky girl and very grateful.  I am here on this fabulous vacation in Paradise with someone who I love and loves me.  He has been and is so good to me.  Every day I say Art scored us some loungers.  But what that means he gets up early and lets me sleep in.  He goes and finds just the right spot for us to be and  lays towels out. Meaning he unrolls them and lays them nicely on the lounger so all I have to do is plop myself down and enjoy.  It is so sweet and thoughtful and I really appreciate it.  I have been lucky to stay off my foot most of the time this week.  It has been nice and it is thanks to Art.  He gets whatever I need with out me having to lift a foot.

We both had massages today.   Neither one of us were impressed.but you know they can’t all be good and they can’t all be bad.  And how lucky are we that we got to do it.

This morning was really overcast with those big dark clouds.  I thought for sure it was going to rain so I was glad to be in the spa.  But you know it never did rain and by this afternoon it was bright blue skies.  The dark clouds had burned off.  We even got in the pool.  The water was pretty chilly so we didn’t stay in a long time.  We also spent some time on the beach.  It was a little difficult walking on the sand with my boot but I made it. Got to love the Advil.  The ocean here really is beautiful.

Before dinner tonight, we went to the lobby lounge to wait for the restaurant to open.  While we were there the entertainment staff set up a 21 table so I convinced Art to play 21 with me.  Because we did that, we were late getting to dinner.  So instead of getting right in when they opened, we had to be on a 50 minute wait list.  I am glad we decided to wait.  We had a really cute waiter.  He was so charming  and fun.  Dinner was delicious and very filling so we decided no dessert.  But he convinced us to stay and have dessert.  Art ordered Myan coffee.  It is fun to watch them make it.  They set it on fire and make a little show out of it.  Anyway I asked the waiter for a poquito (small) scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.  He got the biggest smile and it was a very mischievous smile.  When he brought my bowl he said you ordered poquito ice cream right?  I said yes.  He started to giggle and gave me a bowl that had an eye dropper size  of ice cream with sauce on it.  It was so funny!!  Then he gave me a real bowl of ice cream.
 
I think we’ll head to bed early this laying around and relaxing is hard work......... besides we have a game to watch tomorrow night so we need to rest up.

Timing is Everything

Today was all about being at the right place at the right time.  This morning we went to breakfast and we got right in and it just worked out we got our food quickly before the crowd showed up. We went at just the right time. Right after we got our food the line to get in the restaurant began to form and it grew and grew and grew.  We were glad we went when we did.  It took a while for all those folks to get their food.

We spent the morning at the poolside and then we cleaned up and went to another resort complex that is owned be the same company that owns the hotel we are currently staying at.  We rode the resort bus.  We are coming back in June with our kids and grandkids so we wanted to get it arranged and the rooms figured out.   The resort we went to has three different hotels on the property.  It is one of the biggest resorts in North America.  We first asked one of the employees if we could check out the suites and he told us they didn’t do that so we went to the next resort.  We happened to get a supervisor and she was super accommodating.  She even took us around and showed us different rooms.  She gave us her personal email and told us she would help us get the rooms together.  Sadly the rooms aren’t big enough to accommodate our needs and we don’t think we have rights to that hotel.  But she was super nice and helpful.  We went to the next hotel and found someone who hooked us up looking at the rooms. I knew he would be a big help because he was a Green Bay Packer fan.  Go Pack GO!!  They didn’t have the rooms that we needed so decided to give the first place another shot.  We found a supervisor this time and she was helpful and hooked us up so we could see the rooms.  It is all in asking the right person.

The resort complex is so big they have a big bus that transports you from lobby to lobby.  While we were waiting for the bus at the second hotel an employee came out saw us waiting and asked if we had an appointment or tour and we said no we were waiting for the lobby bus.  He said oh I can take you come on.  He walked us to a golf cart and away we went.  OH MY GOSH it was a scary ride.  It was like the taxi rides here.  I think he was an ex-taxi driver.  I bet we went over 35 miles an hour and didn’t slow down much for the curves and turns.  For a couple minutes we were behind a horse and carriage so we had to go slow but the minute we could shake them we did..........quickly.  I told Art, when we went around a couple curves, I was expecting us to end up on two wheels.  Anyway, it did save us a lot of time.  There are two times to take the bus back to our hotel.  We really wanted to take the first one but didn’t think we would have enough time but thanks to Speedy Gonzales driving the cart we saved so much time that were able to check out the last of the rooms and then walk out of the hotel and get right on the first bus.  The timing couldn’t have worked out any better if we completely planned it.

Tonight we were to the Oriental restaurant.  We could not have asked for a better more attentive waiter.  He was the best.  Our food was served quickly and it was delicious.  I ordered sushi for an appetizer and it was so good but wow was it spicy hot.  It cleaned my sinuses right out and burned all the way up behind my eyeballs.  Every one of then was like that,  I would tell Art how much it burned my sinuses and eyeballs every time I ate one.  I am telling you it was spicy HOT...... It burned my sinuses all the way up to my eyeballs.

What a great day we had.  Everything just fell into place... couldn’t have planned things any better.

Looking forward to tomorrow.  Hot stone massage day for me and regular massage for Art..........awwww..
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Today was a Ten

Today was great all the way around. The weather was great..... no rain and no wind.  We even got in the pool.  It was really refreshing.  All the food was great from breakfast all the way to dinner.   The chefs had a barbecue by the pool.  We got some ribs.....yummy!  Tonight we had a romantic dinner right on the beach.  It was awesome,  We had a 5 course meal.  The main entree was steak and lobster.  The steak was big but the lobster was gigantic.  We topped it off with red velvet cake.  The whole meal was deliciouso!  The dad and his daughters played their guitars and sang romantic songs. It was well worth going!

A crazy today....... Art scored us some loungers in the pool area.  Same ones we have sat in the whole time we’ve been here.  Art was sitting in the covered area playing his game and was in my lounger engrossed in my crossword puzzle and not paying much attention to what was going on around me when the waitress brought us our lunch and  there was a man standing by Art’s lounger.  It looked like he was folding a towel.  He jokingly said oh good food how’d you know I was hungry?  I laughed it off and made some silly reply.  Then I realized he wasn’t folding a towel he was taking Art’s towel.  He said someone had reserved the lounger for him. And I told him it wasn’t that one  because that one was my husbands and he had been in it all day.  He pointed at the ones next to us and said well it can’t be one of those because they have wet towels.  I told him it was because they were occupied.  I showed him they left their stuff.  He said no that one was reserved for him.  He took the towel off one of them and got a new one (because the old one was wet) and settled in.  The couple came back to their loungers and kicked him out. I think he must have had to much tequila.

I broke down today and took Advil for my foot.  It helped immensely!

So looking forward to see what fun adventure tomorrow brings.

Hope You’re Not Hungry

The clouds parted and the sun came out. Woohoo!!  It really was a nice day. It was still windy but no rain.   The sun was out in full force.  The pool was really full of folks.  Of coarse the forecast said rain  so I booked spa services.  Me and several other folks.  The Spa was packed.  My appointments started at noon, so I told Art not to wait for me for lunch I would grab something when I was through.

The Spa was great.  I had a back massage that was heavenly.  Only problem with it was it was too short.  It was 25 minutes but it seemed like 5. Man I could have stayed there another hour.  It really was great .  Then I went for a mani/pedi.  She was really careful with my foot.  But I just felt uneven and that drove me nuts.  I didn’t let her rub it at all.  But after she very carefully filed and painted my toes, my foot hurt. I don’t think I have another pedi until I get my foot straightened out.

Our meals today overall were a problem.  And that is crazy because normally the food here is exceptionally good.  My omelette  had eggshells in it and Art’s bacon was burned to a crisp and his toast only toasted on one side.  After the Spa,  I met up with Art.  He said he had ordered lunch at least a half hour before I got there.  He ordered chicken wings and fries. The waitress brought him a drink but no food so he asked about his food.  She told him she would check on it and I ordered a drink and chips with guacamole. About 20 minutes later she brought his wings no fries. No chips.  Art asked her about it and she said she would check on it.  15 minutes later I went to the bathroom and ran into her and she said she checked on my nachos and they were out. I told her I didn’t order nachos.  I ordered chips and guacamole.  She said they are out of that too.  I asked about the fries , she got the funniest look on her face and said she would check.  I told Art to forget about it.  Then 10 minutes later here she came with Art’s fries and a basket of chip crumbs and guacamole.  Hahahaha she must of got the crumbs from the bottom of the bag.  She did say they were out.

 Lunch was a bit of a bust but we knew dinner would be good.  Hmmmmm, guess we thought wrong.  We went to dinner and our waiter came right away and took our drink order.  I ordered ginger ale and Art ordered Tangarey and Tonic.  It came right away but Art got a different gin.  That’s ok that sometimes happens and it did come right way.  We were already doing better than at lunch. We thought this waiter is exceptionally quick.  That was nice.  Art ordered an appetizer  and I ordered soup.  Art and the waiter discussed how delicious the appetizer was so Art was pretty excited.  Then for an entree Art ordered the lamb but the waiter said he was terrible sorry but there wasn’t any lamb.  SO Art ordered the salmon. I ordered a steak medallion ....a medium rare stake medallion.   Well...... we sat there for a little while and conversed with the couple next to us still waiting on our food.  Art finally said I wonder where your soup and my appetizer is. He no more said that and the waiter came and handed me a plate of salmon.  I said oh no I didn’t order that.  Art being the smart one realized that was our entree.  He said he ordered the salmon and then the waiter handed me my steak.  Art asked what happened to the appetizer and soup.  The waiter got the most stunned look on his face grabbed his order pad and started flipping through it.  Then stuttered out something about being busy.  My poor steak was so well done some of it was burnt.  Art got the salmon and that was all that was on his plate.  No side dish nope nothing just a slab of salmon.    After we were finished eating, here the waiter came with Art’s appetizer flopped it down in front of Art and mumbled he was busy.  Art said the appetizer was good.  I still didn’t get my soup.  After Art was done with his appetizer the waiter grabbed the plate and took off. Never asked if we wanted dessert or nothing.  I guess he was busy.  The funny thing is,  I watched him and he wasn't busy at all.  He just walked around in circles.

Best part of the day...... Art twerking on the deck.  (Sorry kids but true).  We brought our speaker and Amazon DOT. So we sat on the deck late this afternoon and listened to music.  Art liked one of the songs playing  and did his best twerking .  He did it the other day too.  I was going to get a picture but he conveniently stopped.   No end to that fellas talents.

Kinda exciting to see what adventures tomorrow will bring.  Hmmmm but for tonight I might just order room service.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Today the clouds looked like rain and rain it did.   Most of the morning was rainy of and on.  The folks here really want us to go to the presentation. They contacted us again with someone else to try and talk us into it but we said no .......again.

We decided that since sitting in a lounger was too wet we would go to the Pharmacia and get my eye drops. We mentioned it to our rep and she said they have a Pharmacia that delivers.  Sweet.  The concierge called for us and sure enough they were delivered.  What a relief to not have to go out.

I made some Spa appointments.  I guess if it is going to be raining, I’ll go to the spa.

The clouds dried up this afternoon and we headed to the loungers by the pool. It was very pleasant and we stayed there until about 4:30 then headed back to the room to get cleaned up.

We decided to do the barbecue tonight. On our way we ran into the general manager.  He is such a nice man.  Last year he told his wife was extremely ill.  I asked him how she was and he got a big grin and said she was doing great.  She was miraculously cured.  Great new! He asked where we were going to eat and when we said the barbecue he rolled his eyes and said really?  We said yes so he said well at least sit on the terrace.  So we did.  Glad we did, it has some drops of rain nothing big but we were protected.

Art was going to sit out on the deck.  He stopped to get me a drink and make sure I was good first.  His kind deed saved him.  When we went to go out, a huge cloud of rain dumped really hard.  If he would have went right out, he would have been soaked. See doing a good deeds pays off in more ways than one.

Sure hope the rain subsides.  If not .......we’ll I always have Spa appointments.

It is all in a Nights Sleep

Ok so I forgot to mention,  yesterday when we got back to our room to get cleaned up, all the hallways were fill with new matteresses.  All the rooms got a new natteresses on their bed.  Art said Woow we were the last guests to sleep on the old mattress in our room and the first to sleep on the new one .  I know it sounds stupid but I was actually excited to go to bed last night to check out the new matteress.

But....... here is the deal. I really want to watch the BSU football game but it didn’t start until 10:30 pm.  SO here is what I did.  I got all ready for bed and climbed in.  And it was pretty comfy.  The new matteress wasn’t to hard.  In fact I thought it was pretty nice.  Art climbed in and watched the game with me for awhile.  The Broncos weren’t playing that well.  I kept thinking they are going to lose if they don’t get with it.  Then it went from bad to worse.  Art had already given up and went to sleep.  I would think, I can’t watch this, they are playing terrible and then turn it off.  Then I would think I am not a good fan and would turn it back on.  I went through that routine several times.  I ended up watching the entire game.  The 4th quarter was crazy and they ended up tieing the game forcing them to go into overtime.  You can only imagine how Sid was (Sid is my last good nerve).  I wanted to jump up and down and yell and cheer but Art was a sleep and I didn’t want to wake him so all I could do is stuff a pillow in my face,  I ended up stayin up til 3:00 am.

That leads me to today.  I was tired. BUT, I did sleep good on that sweet new mattress.  I am super stoked to go to bed tonight.  (Don’t judge). I can’t wait to crawl in, lay my head on the pillow and say. “AAHHHH”  

We sat at the pool in loungers all day.  We didn’t do anything special but goodness the day seemed to fly by.  It was gone in a blink.  It was breezy and overcast all day. It looked like it was going to start raining any minute.  It was warm and never did get cold.  Temperature wise it was great.  Not long after we came in for the day it started to rain and had been raining ever since.  We even have thunder and lightening.  

I am reading a book that the grandkids suggested I read.  Honey Bunch was rereading it when I was visiting and said it was one of her favorites and the two older kids said it was really good so I thought it would be fun to read.  Mrs Dr did warn me it was a tear jerker but she didn’t say it was a 10 tissue book.  Do you know when you are sitting in Paradise and start to cry people look at you  kinda funny?  Art did offer to get me tissues.  It is a really good book but a 10 tissue tear jerker  for sure.  I am glad I read it.    

Art got a good nights rest (must have been the new mattress) and was able to rest some today.  I think his cough is a lot better.  Fun side note.  Art  wore his BSU shirt and hat today.  He was getting us a beverage and there was a man there and asked him if watch the game.  He told Art he retired from BSU.  What a small world. 

At dinner tonight our waitress remembered us from last year.  Maybe it was my imagination but she took extra good care of us tonight.  Made us feel really special. I hope when we go back to that restaurant, we will be in her section.

Looking forward to tomorrow.  Rain, rain go away!!

Today’s Happenings

It rained most of last night.  We also had thunder and lightening.  We slept in a little which is good.  Art needed the extra rest. I think it helped his cough.  He hasn’coughed nearly as much today.  Wish his ears would unplug.  Maybe tomorrow.

It was pretty overcast and windy this morning.  But hey it was still great to be out.  Paradise is still Paradise.  After breakfast, we scored a couple of loungers by the poolside.  It wasn’t to hard as not many people were out. I guess they thought is was cold but it wasn’t .  It was really windy though.   The guy from the sports and entertainment team came up to us to tell us what the show was tonight and he said hey I remember you guys, you were here last year.  It was fun to be remembered.  

Before lunch we met with our rep person.  She wanted us to go to the Hotel members presentation. After last year, we decided we were never going to update our membership again so we would not go to the presentations anymore.  We had to laugh because our person was super friendly until we said we weren’t going to the presentation.  Then we were dog poop.  Kinda funny!

I did sign up to get spa services today.  Oh heavenly day!!!  I went right after lunch.  I had a massage, body scrub/exfoliation, and facial.  The massage rates right up there in the top three massages.  First the therapist did all the pressure points. That was so nice.  Then she did the regular massage.  Oh my goodness.  It was so relaxing!! I felt myself drift in and out of consciousness.  I was soooo relaxed.  I told her about my foot and she was so good not to touch it at all.  That is weird for me because I have to have everything even.  Not great for  my OCD but I managed to get over it.  Hey.....maybe I am getting over having to have everything even,  That would be nice.   My skin was so soft when it was all done.  Between the spa treatment and the humid air my skin is so soft. I just love it. While I was at the spa, Art held down the lounger at the pool.  The wind wasn’t as bad and the sun managed to even come out for a little while.

We went to the one restaurant that has the seasonal soup. Sadly, the seasonal soup had been removed from the menu.  Time to find new favorites.  They had dogfish on the menu.  What the heck is dogfish?  Art ordered it.  He said it was pretty good. My hat’s off to him for giving it a try.  I decided to try the new soup on the menu.  It was a lime tortilla soup.  It was interesting to say the least.  It was luke warm and tasted like tang doused in lime juice.  It was pretty tart.  I don’t think I will order it again........once is enough.  I am glad I tried it though.  Art ordered it as well but the waitress didn’t bring his.  I think he was relieved he didn’t get it.  I can tell you he didn’t really miss anything.  But the shrimp was excellent!  Yummy!  Every year that we have come here, there is a father and his two daughters play guitars and sing in that restaurant.  They are so good!  We even have one of their CDs.  As we were finishing up dinner they came. We sat and enjoyed their music for a little while after we were done eating. They are so talented.  I look forward to hearing them again this week.  

Hope the weather is good tomorrow.  I am looking forward to the pool.

GO Broncos!!!  They play tonight. 

Wheelchairs Rock

It is hard to believe it has been an entire year since we were last here.  As much as things seem the same, they have changed.

We got up early this morning not as early as we usually have to but it was still early. The Buddy did his usual run and took us to the airport.   A few weeks back, I realized that since I am back in my boot, walking through the airports was going to be a pain.  I have never ever traveled in an airport that I didn’t get stepped on.  Plus I knew going from gate to gate, I would have to walk fast.  All the crazy thoughts of traveling with a bad foot gave me the worst anxiety.  Every time I would think about it my anxiety would skyrocket.  I had to stop thinking about before I gave myself a heart attack.  It was totally irrational  but I couldn’t help it.  I mentioned it to the Buddy and he suggested I get a wheelchair.  What a great idea. Art ordered me a wheelchair.

It worked out super slick. We checked in and the ticketing agent said he had in his records we needed a wheelchair which we confirmed.  He asked if I trusted Art  to push me or we wanted someone to come. I confirmed I trusted Art.  And might I add he was an excellent driver.  Got to security and can you believe it, I was randomly selected to be searched.  Since I was in a wheelchair they were quick and nice.  Nothing big.  Then we were on our way.

We boarded the plane early and got front row seating. It was great because we had a ton of leg room.  It really was great. The flight to Denver was great.   The main flight attendant was great and really nice.  Art packed some snacks for the flight and they were in his carryon.  Our seat mate eyed his goodies.  I think he had snack food envy,  do you know how I know?  The sweet flight attendant offered to stow our bags for us when we were preparing to land and when Art handed her his bag, our seat mate told her that the bag had a lot of food in it.  She got a twinkle in her eye and asked if there were any m&msin it.  We smiled and said why yes there are.  She cautiously  looked at us.  I knew she wondered if we were serious or just yanking her chain. Art opened his bag and whipped out a big bag of m&ms. She was thrilled.  She said the pilot asked her jokingly if she could find some and BAM she did. She was really excited.  Then she promised if my wheelchair wasn’t there when got off the plane she would run and get one. Sweet!  But she didn’t need to because the wheelchair was waiting.

My driver was super nice and even stopped at ladies room for me. This wheelchair gig is working out better than I ever anticipated.  When we got back on the plane, we were .......first , yes the very first to board the plane.  YES,  more leg room.  I have never ever been the first one on a plane before. Art and I were really loving how well this was working out.  And not once was my foot stepped on.  Nope not once. We arrived in Mexico and once again the chair was waiting. Wow!  I can’t even tell you how glad I was.  The distance to customs was a long one.

As luck would have it, the airport built a new building. In fact, it is still under construction on the outside.  It just opened 4 days ago.  Our plane was assigned the new building.  Best part.......we were the only plane there.  You might be thinking what’s the big deal with that.  I’ll tell you......we were the only ones in customs.  It took no time at all to get through. When we got to baggage claim our luck continued. Arts bag was the third one on the carousel and mine was ninth. Then I rode in the wheelchair to get out to our transportation.  Not one hawker bugged us.  I am telling you this wheelchair gig rocks.

Got to the hotel, and got a room on one of the ends of the building. That means we have a double balcony.  Kind of a wrap around.  It’s nice.  We had a quick beverage then had a delicious dinner. I don’t know why I am so tired, I got to ride instead of walking.  But I am so I am going to bid you all adieu so I can go to bed.  Peace out.