Guest for Breakfast

 I forget to mention in today’s post.  This morning while eating breakfast, Art looked up and said WOW that is a big one.  I turned around and there was spider about the size of my hand.  Yikes!  Art told the waiter and he looked at it and said yep he is pretty big and went on wiping the table next to us.  He was totally unphased.   It was like the spider was a frequent guest.  As soon as I can get it to post, I will post a picture.  

Fun Week Then Off On A New Adventure……….

 We just finished spending a fun week in Atlanta.  Honey Bunch was in a play.  We attended every show and hard to believe but every show was better that the last.  I know this will sound bias but truly everyone said it…… Honey Bunch was spectacular. She deserved to win a Tony for the play. The whole cast did such an amazing job.  My favorite line in the whole play was delivered by Honey Bunch and she delivered it like no one else could have.  Imagine in a southern drawl “Oh Honey….. Bless your heart”.  Just thinking about it makes me giggle.  There were some really funny lines but in the end in was a tear jerker. Mrs Dr was busy gathering items to sell and working the concessions. They had great treats for sale to support the drama department.  I even bought a sweatshirt that was made for the play.  Dr took care of us chauffeuring us to each show.  

It was fun spending time with the family in between times.  We learned some fun new games and had an absolute blast playing them.  We even got to watch Mega man compete in a track meet.  He is doing splendidly pole vaulting. He has only been doing it for a couple weeks so he is amazing. Princess came for over night.  It was fun to spend some time with her.  Dude cooked us some steaks. Everyone said they weren’t his usual but I thought they were delicious and I certainly ate a lot.  It is always so fun going and spending time with everyone there.  Can’t wait to see everyone again. 

Up early today…..and I mean early we were up at 4 am.  Yikes that is early.  We flew to Punta Cana.  The airport was pretty busy which I guess I am surprised how busy it was that early in the am.  But we got through security pretty quickly.  We couldn’t use the airline’s lounge because we didn’t have the right credit card and our destination wasn’t complementary.  Oh well.  We did go and have a little breakfast at one of the restaurants open at that time. 

We arrived safe and sound. Customs was really really busy.  We managed to get through fairly quick all things considered.  We gathered our luggage and were headed to the long line to have our luggage scanned to get out and a guy snagged Art and said come with me.  He grabbed our luggage and by passed the X-ray machines hollered something to the employee and she waved us through,…….hmmmmm.  Not sure how that worked but it did.  We got to our shuttle stand  found our name and checked in.  Art had made arrangements for a private shuttle.  That was great.  Our driver was hilarious!!!  We so enjoyed him. He said his name in English was Joel and his last name was.“little Ass” in English.  He showed us pictures of his wife and kids and sang to us and was just a really fun guy. 

Out hotel is great.  We wandered around a little.  It is a big resort.  When we checked in our concierge was waiting for us.  After we got our room he asked what our room number was so he could arrange to have our luggage delivered.  When we told him the number, his eyes got big and and he grinned and said oh that is a very nice room.  I am sure he always does that but it is a very nice room.  It is a two story with the bedroom upstairs.  And the fun part is we have a nice deck with a table and chair, two loungers AND….a pool.  Pretty sweet.  I will post pictures later.  

We had a lovely dinner and our back to our room enjoying the deck.  Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.   

 

Just a Day to Recoup

 I got up early and went to the beach to reserve loungers.  I thought Art could use the rest and sleep in. I wan't sure if he would even feel like going to the beach but wanted to be prepared in case he did.   I scored a couple loungers and moved them to the spot we have been going.  I was pretty proud of myself.  When I got back to the room Art got up and said he was hungry so we went to breakfast.  He didn't eat a lot but it was good to see him have something.  The meds seemed to kick in and he seemed to be doing better.  He said the pain wasn't bad unless he moved around.  That was improvement.  I was glad and relieved he was doing better.  

We went to the beach but it was a little chilly so we went back to the room and rested until the sun came out where our loungers were.  We just hung out at the loungers then rest of the day.  As the day went on I could see a change in Art.  He was fading.  He said he was tired from the day.  We did go to dinner but Art ate very little.  The antibiotics are taking a toll on his already distressed colon.  

This trip has been a real eye opener for us.  We have lots to consider. We head for home tomorrow......... hopefully all will go well.  It will be good to be home even if it isn't as warm. I will miss the warm weather. 

Trip to the ER

 I am not even sure how to describe this day other than bizarre.  It all started off with a knock on the door early this morning.  Art had left to go reserve loungers for us.  We had decided to go back to the place we had yesterday as it was so perfect. We would only be there for part of the day as we had planned to go to the Malacon and our favorite restaurant this afternoon. I had gotten up and was getting ready so when Art got back we could go to breakfast.  There was a knock on the door.  I thought that early in the morning, it must be Art......he must have forgotten his key.  Just as a safety precaution, I looked out the peep hole. There stood an employee.  I opened the door and he very cheerily asked are you ready for breakfast?  I looked down and saw the room service cart.  I told him I didn't order room service.  He said oh yes you did you filled out the sheet and he point to my room number on the sheet.  I assured him once again I didn't fill out sheet and didn't order room service.  He looked at me for a few seconds then broke out in a big smile and said maybe it is really your neighbor.  He went across the hall and knocked on the door.  The gentleman answered and the employee very cheerfully asked are you ready for breakfast to which he said yes.  He showed him the sheet and said you wrote the wrong room number down and I tried to give your breakfast away.  The gentleman looked at me and started apologizing profusely.  I was glad it all worked out

When Art got back I said oh man you missed all the room drama.  He looked me in the eye and said I bet my drama beats your drama.  Oh my!!!!  Curiously,  I asked him what his drama was.  Very seriously he said "I think I have appendicitis ".  Wait ....what?  He had been woken in the night with a bad side ache on the right side and it had just gotten worse.  I asked if he need to go to the hospital but he said he wanted to wait.  You know to be sure.....in case it passed.  He laid down for a couple hours.  I am not sure how on earth he was able to rest because as he tried to rest, I pretended to read but I really had my eye on him.  I was really worried for him.  He seemed to do a little better. But then the chills set in.  I knew then he had a fever.  He wanted to go down to the lounger to be in the warm sun. 

We went to the lounger and it did help for a little bit.  I texted Doctor to see what he thought.  I knew he was at work and it would probably be a while before we could talk to him.  As we sat there Art really didn't feel well. He made the decision he needed to go to the ER.  We grabbed a cab and went to the ER.  After blood work and a CAT scan it was decided he has diverticulitis. They wanted to admit Art and give him antibiotics intravenously until the surgeon could see him.  That would be about 2 hours and we had to pay up front.  We shared the results with Doctor and came up with a plan. We were so grateful for his help.  He could read the results, interpret them and reassure us. We got some prescriptions and we will go home and see a dr there as soon as possible.

While I went to the pharmacy to get the prescriptions, Art contacted the airline,  We will be going home  on Saturday morning.  That will give Art all day tomorrow to rest and get ready for the journey home. 

There is a big plan in play.......everything has a reason and purpose.  Hopefully the medications will kick in soon and Art will be better in no time. 

And for the record........ Art's drama definitely beat mine. 

Drama from the Elevator

 Today just flew by.  Not sure why it went by so fast but it sure did. I slept in so we were a little later going to breakfast.  What a difference 30 minutes can make.  The restaurant was super busy.  Fortunately, we were able to get through the buffet pretty fast all things considered.  

I forgot to take my sunglasses so I ran back to the room to get them.  The man I met at the pool yesterday was in the elevator.  Boy he was full of drama.  We had no idea of all drama that went on yesterday.  Apparently a tourist's body washed up on shore so they were trying to figure out who he was.  Crazy!  Then someone was swimming in the ocean and got stung by a jelly fish.  The guy said most people don't know what they should do and asked if I knew and I said yes you pee on the sting.  He was stunned that I knew.  He said I must have been stung before......  nope.  But that was a lot of drama for an elevator ride.  

Art scored us loungers in the most ideal spot. We were on the beach in a spot that wasn't wall to wall people and it had some nice palm trees that provided shade until late afternoon.  I think we will try to be there the rest of the week.  It was just perfect.  We stayed there the whole day and just loved it. 

The weather was perfect.  Couldn't have asked for a better day.  Back to the room to get cleaned up and be serenaded by Art on his guitar. We got in the elevator for dinner and there was a man in the elevator that reminded us both of my dad.  Everything about him including his look and mannerisms was my dad.  They totally could have been related.  It was really crazy!  Off to the hibachi for dinner.   Now we are tucked back in our room. 

Laid back but busy day

Today was a laid back yet busy day.  The day seemed to fly by.........We started out on the beach.  Art got us great loungers but for some reason there was not only the usual shortage of umbrellas, there was a shortage of little tables between the loungers.  It took some searching but Art found us one.  We spent most of the morning at the beach.  Then around 11am  it warmed up to the hot zone and with no shade it gets pretty hot. Not only that it had gotten pretty full.  Folks were trying to steal loungers.  Art went to the bathroom and while he was gone, I had three people ask for his lounger.  At least they asked and didn't just take it.  When he got back,  we packed it up and went to the private pool.  There was plenty of loungers,  little tables and most importantly shade. 

The pool was pretty cold but the big hot tub area was heated.  I opted to be in the hot tub pool.  After being in the hot tub pool a little while Art decided to give the cold pool a try.  While he was doing that I stayed in the hot tub pool.  There was a young couple in the hot tub pool and they came up to me and they were all friendly and smiley and asked if I was at the hotel alone.  I said no I was there with my husband and just then Art came back.  Then they were super curt and left me alone after that.  Not sure what they would have said if I would have said yes.  We did have a great conversation with a man from North Eastern Canada.  He has traveled all over Idaho and named several cities he has visited.  Small world.  

There was a iguana at the pool area.  Art was snoozing it his lounger and it was fascinated watching him.  He sat at the end of lounger watching him until he woke up.  Then another bigger iguana came.  When he saw the other iguana he start nodding his head wildly then made his move and hoped on her.  She was not having it though and in the water they went.  By then everyone was gathered watching her get away.  That is one wild pool for sure.

It has been great people watching this week.  We started giving people names that we think they should be named.  One couple we named Birdie and Hank.  Not sure what Birdie's real name is but I found out today Hank's name is really Hank. Too funny!

We walked to Outback for dinner. It is really close to our hotel.  The road we had to cross was a little scary but we managed it just great. The food was.......  OH.MY.WORD!!!!  It was beyond delicious.  We decided they had to have their meat imported from Missouri.  It was tender and flavorful!  Art order a gin and tonic and the waiter brought all the stuff for it and let him mix it himself. He thought the bartender made a great drink......hahaha.  Our waiter spoke perfect English with hardly any accent. I would bet he spent time in the US but we didn't ask him. We really want to go back again before we have to go home. 

We had a beautiful sunset tonight.  The sunsets here are so incredible.  That is one of the things we have always really enjoyed here,  They have the perfect spot to watch the sun set here.  

Today is drawing to a close.  It was a great day!  

first Iguana watching Art

                                                        second Iguana 

                                                Tonight's sunset with a cruise ship setting sail

                                                    Us watching the sunset

We Discovered Another Pool

Last night wasn't as wild thank heavens but we did have a visitor at 1:30am.  We were woken up by a bunch of laughing and carrying on from the hall.  Then there was a loud knock on the door.  We are at the very end of the hall mind you so there is no mistaking our room.  We of coarse ignored it and they went away.  It was quiet after that.   I had a strange epiphany today.  We used to be the young people partying  and having fun, then I watched the young folks and think goodness I could be their mom and now I look at them and think holy smokes I can be their grandma. Wow where did the time go?  Such a crazy thought.  I thought about it the rest of the day.... heck I am still trying to get my head wrapped around it.  

The restaurant this morning didn't seem terribly busy so it seemed the hotel wasn't as busy but then all the loungers at the pool were taken.  The beach still had some openings though.  Art scored us loungers at the beach.  There were no umbrella's anywhere this morning.  We talked about going and buying a little umbrella like so may others have so we would  have some shade.   As the sun heated up it was hard to be without any shade so Art sat at the outdoor bar to keep cool.  It is under a hut so the heat isn't beating down on you.

More folks arrived and they have a convention going for the rest of the week so it has filled back up. 

After lunch we went for a walk around the sister property and we found a nice quiet pool with a lot of shade and open loungers.  They had soft music playing and the few people in the pool appeared to be about our age.  We were so excited.  We are going to hang out there tomorrow afternoon.  If we hang out there we won't need to buy an umbrella. 

While I was enjoying the sun, my masseuse found me and wanted to know how I was feeling today after my massage.  She said she sure enjoyed me and couldn't believe how ticklish I was.  Hahahaha I wasn't  ticklish, she and her warp speed just made me giggle.  Anyway it was nice of her to come up to me to see how I was doing. 

Later this afternoon we walked over to the barter market.  It is about a two minute walk from here and it is where the cruise ships come in.  Didn't buy anything but was nice to stretch our legs and walk.  Then we decided to stop by the grocery store.  They have a little of everything not just groceries.  They even have umbrellas so if we need we know where we can get one.  Art picked up some gin that he prefers and the hotel doesn't carry.  One of the workers came up and asked  if we are finding everything and we said yes.  At first he said he was in customer service but then after telling us about his divorce, new girlfriend and showing us pictures of his son he told us he also arranges tours and when we were done to come see him and he would give us the family discount (wink wink).  We weren't interested but did enjoy talking to him.

We had a lovely dinner at the Italian restaurant.  We decided we would return a few more times as there were several items we would like to try.   When we were returning to our room, we were in the elevator with another couple.  Neither Art nor I could pick them out in a line up meaning we had never seen them before. The guy looked Art in the eye and said  "You didn't get sunburned today.  Good job".  Appears he could pick Art out in a line up. 

We went to the show tonight.  It was Mexican night so they had a lot of traditional dancing.  The dancers were really good.  The speakers were turned up full volume and all the Mexicans in the room would whoop it up so loud you could hear it over the speakers so you know it was loud.  It was high pitched earsplitting at times.  Best part of the whole night was coming back to the room and Art (who has extremely sensitive hearing) describing and demonstrating how it shook his organs up inside.  We both laughed so hard.  I feel bad for him but his acting it out was absolutely hilarious!!!  

Storm clouds moved in early evening and it is trying to sprinkle but tomorrow is supposed to be hot and sunny again.  We are excited to go to the new pool area.