Coming Home and Heading Back Out

I can't say I slept great on the couch for my first night back, but it was good enough...for the day I ended up having, but not for the one I should have had.

Did I mention that my work had thrown a monkey wrench in my work plans for Thursday?  Originally I was going to come back, work a casual Thursday from home (as usual) to catch up, and then take Friday off for Carter's last day of school and our departure for Pittsburgh.  But the week before, they postponed our annual all-staff retreat one week because the previous date ended up being the day they announced the largest gift in University history, $50 million from Tom Golisano.  It was annoying but it turned out I needed that day to finish up some data before vacation, so I guess it worked out.  But it meant that on my one day back I had to be up early and be functional enough to sit through speakers for six hours and possibly brainstorm with my table mates, which honestly didn't seem likely.  Working from home would have been at my own pace, but this definitely would not have been.  I warned my bosses I didn't have high confidence in that day going well because of my late arrival (which they understood--it's not like I planned it this way), and sure enough, when I woke up I felt pretty cruddy.  I was tired, of course, but I also felt mildly hungover and my stomach was off.  I think it was a dehydration thing.  You know how they say you can cut jet lag by staying hydrated?  I think I had that problem without the time change.  Just too sweaty of a prior day to make that happen, I guess.  I was very slow getting going, and the last thing I wanted to do was be at the mercy of long speakers and sharing a bathroom with 200 other people in the event my stomach didn't regulate itself politely.  So I took a sick day, checked my email, and called it a work day.

My parents helped me get Carter off to school and then left themselves, probably thrilled to get back home.  I got started on laundry, namely changing the sheets again and washing all of my clothes and Jacob's clothes, in hopes anything we needed for Pittsburgh might be ready by the next day.  The only thing we really did during the day was go to Jacob's afternoon workout, during which I ran to Aldi (mostly to buy a cheap clear bag for Red Wings games) and to Wegmans to replenish some of our food.  We came home to Carter after his last full day of school, grabbed Outback to go for Jacob's birthday dinner, and swam in the very comfortable pool.  He did get one gift in the mail that day, but otherwise it wasn't much of a birthday for him.  But we were going to Pittsburgh and could celebrate and gift-give there.  My goal is still to do a joint party for both boys (since Carter never really got one) this summer.  At least a baseball cake will work for both.

Craig ran into some weather on his way back.  His flight was delayed slightly and then it seemed to take extra long to come in to work around the storm.  I think he was actually lucky because other flights were completely diverted or delayed more fully.  Most important was that he was thankfully able to get in safely despite the storms.  It took him longer than planned to get back on the road, but he made it home late that night.  Not exactly how he wanted it since I think the birthday boy was in bed before he got home, but he tried.  He started laundry as soon as he got home that night so he was up a bit late.  His last day at the resort included a (lame) foam party at the pool and the big gala, which I guess was nice.

Friday morning we had to get Carter up and off to school, and from there I took Jacob to his follow-up at the pediatrician.  Of course we had to get the last day picture.  

I forgot that I hadn't shared Jacob's yet in the rush of us leaving.  I forgot to take it on his actual last day so I took it the next day on his last exam day, except that I didn't get to do it in the morning so this was after.  I'm slipping, folks.

Anyway, we dropped off Carter for the last time at this school.  It was a little sad.  Three years for Jacob, two years off, and three years back on.  And add in that Carter mostly loved it here (Jacob did too, regardless of what he says now), and it was definitely bittersweet doing that drop-off for the last time.

Off we went to Jacob's doctor's appointment.  While we were gone he had been taking his reflux meds and had mostly felt better, but he was still having a little chest discomfort.  He'd played a couple baseball games and even got a triple, so all things considered he was doing well.  But apparently he's stuck in his own head now, because when we got to the doctor his blood pressure was even higher than it had been previously, despite getting a reasonable reading at his ER visit (for testing) before we left.  The doctor wasn't too concerned but suggested maybe he should just check in with a cardiologist.  Of course, that appointment isn't for two months, which isn't helpful.  I'm honestly just hoping he was still funky from whatever virus he had before we left and that everything will go away in time.  We'll see.  

Meanwhile, we came back home with him reeling a bit again, but Craig and I immediately left for Carter's moving up ceremony.  Due to the heat it was being held inside the gym.  He was happy to see us when he walked in.

We eagerly waited through some singing and award presentations to see what award he'd be receiving.  We'd gotten a letter letting us know he was getting something, which was better than Jacob who got nothing (still seems odd because his grades were pretty good), but we didn't know if it was something pretty standard or something better.  I was surprised when he didn't get announced with the President's Education Award winners since I knew his academics were at least as good as the kids that were announced, at least based on the things he tells us.  But then they announced the School Board award, which was the one he really wanted.  And he WON!  He was one of only seven kids and the only boy!  I was so proud of him.  If you zoom in you can see the giant smile on his face here.
 

I was a little bummed he didn't win a citizenship award too, but his buddy Ben did, which was nice.  They all got announced to walk across and shake hands with the teachers, and then they sang a rousing rendition of "Hall of Fame", which I think Jacob's class sang too.  And with that, we were done.  We took a picture of his very cool award...

then we signed him out with his teacher, thanked her for everything, and grabbed his stuff from his classroom.  We got a quick picture with Ben on the way out, too, which I texted to his mom later.  She admitted they're already nervous for middle school, but we agreed we're happy they're able to do it together.

And with that, we walked out of school for the last time.

Back at home we looked through all of his certificates that were in with his super amazing report card, and sure enough, he DID get a President's Award, at the "outstanding" level no less.  Not sure why he didn't get announced, but I'll take it!

 

As you can see in the pic above, his face was still pretty swelled up on the one side.  He'd been using creams on his mouth wound all week, and started taking antibiotics on Wednesday night because the swab came back with a couple bacteria.  They didn't taste bad but the texture was apparently awful.  He had to take two full medicine spoons full twice a day and had to fight off gagging every time.  Poor kid.  Because it was still swelled, I looked in his mouth again and I swore it looked even more torn up than it had when we did the emergency dentist run before the trip.  I was concerned again since we were leaving for Pittsburgh for the weekend, that with creams (which did seem to help the wound heal) and now antibiotics, why did the inside look worse?  We called the dentist and they said to bring him right over, so Craig took him while I finished packing up for Pittsburgh.  They confirmed it might be a little worse, but felt that the antibiotics would be enough for now and they'd be willing to swab the inside themselves when we got back since the doctor didn't do that originally.  It was a little peace of mind, at least, but another pre-trip fire drill felt like déjà vu to the prior week.

Now...before I get into the Pittsburgh trip, a few more parting thoughts on the Dominican trip:

• Overall I think my parents and the kids weathered their time together pretty well.  I think my parents were definitely relieved to be done as they take a lot of energy.  I think they gained a new appreciation for what we go through on a regular basis.  But the boys seemed to behave well and seemed to appreciate the time with their grandparents.  I think the food thing was a bit hectic, especially since Jacob was refusing red sauce, which thwarted my mom's plan for lasagna, because they ate out a lot and my dad complained about the cost.  I was a little annoyed because it seemed like my mom was making it her mission to "fix" my kids--primarily Jacob--by teaching him to do laundry (never mind I didn't learn until college) and pushing him to put his dishes in the sink and clean up his mess.  I understand and appreciate the efforts (but I knew it wouldn't stick when they left no matter how much I insisted), and I generally preferred they just enjoy the time together and make a few memories, rather than make it into a nag fest.  He didn't seem too annoyed so I guess it comes across differently from someone else.  But I think their schedules were plenty to keep them busy.  Oh, and as a Father's Day gift to Craig, they took back ALL of the bags of bottles and cans in our garage, which were long overdue.  It felt a little like a shot to our housekeeping, but whatever...it's done.  I guess I should feel lucky they didn't complain about much else and kept my plants alive.  Everything was a little crazy when we left, so the house definitely wasn't where I wanted it to be.  If there was some judgment, they kept it to themselves.
• Speaking of activities, all of Carter's games ended up getting canceled due to the heat, which meant they got rescheduled for a doubleheader Saturday when we'd be gone.  Boo.  However, they did schedule a Monday playoff game at the 11th hour (literally 9:30pm the night before).  Unfortunately they did it stupidly--they put us against the other first place team, the one with the ace pitcher, rather than a lower-seeded team like most playoffs.  The other four teams would play Monday as well, and the winners of those two would play each other Wednesday to play the winner of our game Saturday.  Sadly, their pitcher got us (as expected) and we lost.  The whole setup was pretty crappy--last minute and badly set up.  The championship was definitely rained out, so who knows what happened in the end...although the Brewers will probably win no matter what.
• They made it through the Red Wings game and Carter did manage to walk with the Little League and do the anthem with school, which was good to hear.  I never did get pictures or video....hmmm.  I think it was chaotic, but it sounded like they had a great time, and even stayed for the fireworks.  Kudos to my parents for hanging in there.  Add in that Jacob had a game at noon that day, and that was a VERY long day.  For Jacob's second game a couple days later, they got rained on pretty good.  Ugh. 
• I really do appreciate the time away we had as a couple.  I can't say it was miraculous or changed anything or fixed any nagging problems, but it was really nice and I found it encouraging that we managed to keep the conversation going.  We had some good intimate time (TMI, but I think it's important to note), which I know was important to him, and we managed spending a lot of time together without much of a break without driving one another nuts.  I still think we vacation very differently as a whole--I would have preferred getting moving earlier each day whereas he needs sleep.  He did get a little annoyed when we did our hot walk exploring the resorts (I think he thought it was going to end up longer than it was), and he did give me a bit of hesitation when I was asking him to go to the beach at sunset since it felt like we were walking back and forth, but overall I think things went well.  It was a nice reminder of what we could be like when we weren't stressed out or completely focused on the kids.  It's been way too long since we had an extended period of that.  It was nice to have other people around too...that probably helped us not get too sick of one another, as well.  I'd like to do it again sometime, but I think my parents probably need a lot more time to recover.
• I still can hardly believe it happened (even more so for reasons I'll get into later in another post) but I'm glad we were able to make it work.  Before we left I sort of wanted to fast-forward through the trip and Pittsburgh and just know we made it through okay.  It did feel like we were pretty much on fast-forward the whole time and I can't entirely say we made it through unscathed (again, another post, plus the kids' stuff still isn't entirely resolved), but I'm relieved we made it through and had a wonderful time while we were there.  It was really a dream come true in so many ways, surreal and amazing.  I've barely had a chance to miss it because we've been so busy, but I do.  It was dreamy.

And now here we are, past it all--both trips are done (I'll get to Pittsburgh soon), school is over, Jacob is 16, my work fiscal year is essentially over, and summer is officially here.  I'm feeling a bit lost at the moment--so much was leading up to the trip and that's over, and now so much has shifted and I've lost my grasp on where everything stands.  It's like the crazy shift we had post-Disney and into the school year, but weirder.  I'll get into more of that later, but at least the trip itself was amazing.  

Escape to Paradise - Day 5

The last day was definitely a little sad.  It was odd knowing that Craig was staying another day and a lot of other people had three more full days.  Part of me was jealous, but it was nice to know we had an exciting weekend ahead, so the letdown wouldn't be as bad.  But still, I had never been anywhere this exotic and it was a little sad to cut it short.  

I did manage to get myself up a little earlier than usual that morning.  I made sure to take a picture of my room slippers, which were part of the room amenities.  They were pretty flimsy so I figured they were disposable and we were free to take them home, but I left them until Craig confirmed with our butler, and he brought them home for me.  Did I mention we had a butler?  He was assigned to us the whole time and I figure it's got to be a tough job because you're seemingly always on call.  Ours was a very sweet Creole man named Junior.  He was so friendly and just periodically popped up to say hi.  We've decided you probably only get to be a butler (to Americans, anyway) if you have a very good grasp of the English language.  We had a few language challenges during the week, mostly with waitstaff and one hostess.  It's funny, because when I was in Montreal, I remember people greeting me with both a "bonjour" and "hello", and my understanding was that the way I responded would indicate what language they'd speak to me.  But on this trip I felt like I should be saying "Hola" or answer back in whatever Spanish I could remember (which sadly isn't a lot), just to be polite.  I have to say, I could probably read labels and signs better than I expected, and any Spanish labels (namely my morning yogurt) were some of the few reminders we were in another country.  Anyway, butlers needed to answer a lot of questions so I think good language skills were extra important, and that's probably one of the main things that separated them from the rest of the wait staff.  They were all mostly very friendly when the language issue wasn't making things difficult.  We didn't use our butler much--mostly to track down our tardy luggage the first day, our delayed room service before Coco Bongo, and a couple other random questions.  Normally they make reservations if you need them, but I can only imagine what some people ask of them.  Anyway, the slippers...

I tried to enjoy the view from the balcony as much as I could.  It was just so idyllic.  

Ocean in the distance in one direction...

...crazy palm tree in the other

We decided to go to a nice breakfast that morning.  Before we went we stopped in the excursion office.  I had originally booked my airport shuttle, but I had found out two other wives (who also happen to be sisters-in-law) had a flight leaving 15 minutes before mine and I preferred to ride with them for safety reasons.  I can't exactly remember now but I think we actually had to stop in twice--once to add them to my shuttle and then again to just cancel mine because it turned out they booked a cab and were leaving extra early.  But at least since they knew I had paid for mine already they didn't make me pay, and it was good to have other people to go with.  Even with the two of them the one said she felt that much better with three.  The process was a little confusing but all worked out in the end...enough, anyway.  

Our breakfast was supposed to be in the Italian restaurant we ate in the previous night, but apparently it was a cleaning day so they set up shop in the French restaurant instead.  

My handsome date

We should have done this more because the spread was amazing.  This came out as an automatic appetizer:

Well, the mimosa was separate, but there was a full plate of fruit and this amazing shelf of goodies.  There were two croissants, two rolls, one cinnamon roll, one giant cupcake, and every spread you could want--butter pats in the little crock, and all tiny jars of jellies, peanut butter, and hazelnut spread.  It was so cool, and of course I brought the cupcake with me for dessert.  

While we were eating, another couple from our group got seated near us.  It was the couple with the most adorable pregnant woman I'd been admiring all week.  She looked so cute every day, and God bless her for hanging out with a bunch of people practically marinating in alcohol all week.  We had a great chat and learned that she was once a Bandette dancer, which is how they met, but they didn't get together until much later.  They both have kids from other relationships but this is their first together.  She was familiar with Rochester via her ex so she was interested in hearing about where we live and where the kids went to school.  It was a nice chat since we hadn't really talked to them much that week.

Our breakfast was really great--my eggs benedict was amazing, and Craig liked his eggs and English muffin too.  We headed off to get me one last iced coffee, and when we came out, we came across Curt, the owner.  Of course we felt it was important to stop and chat with him, but I was nervous about time because I didn't have long before the wives' cab was leaving and I still needed to pack up a couple last things.  I made sure to thank him twice, and while the conversation lasted a couple minutes longer than would have been wise, we finally broke away...but not before the one long-time assistant coach suggested Craig should write an autobiographical book for Curt.  That was a sore spot because Craig nearly destroyed himself trying to write the three-peat book years ago.  It stressed him out to the point he got shingles.  So hopefully that idea doesn't go anywhere...ha.

I was a little frustrated that I ended up short on time and couldn't really enjoy my last few minutes, but thankfully I had planned well and packed up almost everything ahead.  I rushed back to the room, grabbed my last couple things and my luggage, and headed up to the lobby to meet the wives and the cab.  They cut off my bracelet on the way to the car, and that was that.  Booooo.  We hopped in a typical cab and I found myself wishing for what I assumed was a far more reliable resort shuttle.  The cab ride was...interesting.  I'm pretty sure the cabbie beeped at about half a dozen people in the 30 minute ride.  It was a little harrowing as people don't seem to merge or change lanes with much care.  I chatted quite a bit with one wife, who was actually the one I sat next to on the flight down but rarely spoke to.  The other one wasn't talking, but come to find out her stomach was off and she gets carsick, so she was using all of her energy to just hold it together.

Once we got to the airport, they had to get printed boarding passes because they never got digital ones.  That meant I had this view for about 20-30 minutes while they waited in a long line. 
  

It looks pretty nice, but the airport was so warm.  They apparently don't use (much) air conditioning in this part of the terminal either.  It was more enclosed than baggage claim and was maybe a little cooler than outside, but they mostly rely on giant fans to keep the air moving.  It was very warm and that was the start of a few sweaty hours.  

My original shuttle was supposed to leave at noon for a 3pm flight, but the wives were nervous and wanted to leave at 11am for their 2:45 flight.  The excursion folks had explained to us that in that size of airport, leaving the resort three hours ahead (instead of being AT the airport three hours ahead for most international flights) was sufficient, and actually helped keep crowding at bay.  So, with leaving extra early we had some time to kill, even with their wait at the counter.  And of course when we got past security and customs (which wasn't bad at all), we realized that killing that time wasn't going to be quite as simple as usual.  

The gate part of the terminal was nice and modern with stores and restaurants, but it was busy.  We first stopped at a little open area store to get drinks and snacks, and I eagerly snapped up a bottle of Country Club to take home to Carter, just like I had wanted to!  We wanted to go sit in the gate area, but because of the airport's odd setup (you go to a bus from the gates, not the plane), there were just a ton of seats all around the general gate area, and there were not three together anywhere.  So we had to grab a spot in the bar and order drinks instead.  Small price to pay for seats, I guess.  We ended up having a nice chat now that the other wife was feeling better.

Before we knew it, it was time for them to go to their gate.  I guess I sort of forgot that I was really only 15 minutes behind them, because once I left them there I had to rush through getting food (Pizza Hut!) and rush to my gate, where I found a giant line already boarding, but awkwardly so.  I was in boarding group B and apparently I could board but it felt like cutting this giant line, which was awkward.  With most flights people sort of hang back until their group is announced, but not here.  I had my hands full with food (my bags were packed totally full), I was sweating profusely, but I worked my way up.  I found another couple in the same boarding group and declared I was going to just stick with them.  We had a nice little chat once we got on the tarmac bus to the plane about our respective resorts and our experiences with the weather (which oddly were slightly different despite being in the same city).  Once the bus arrived at the plane, we had to go on the glass enclosed ramp to board, which just enhanced the sweat.  By the time I got on the plane I was so disgustingly sweaty and couldn't wait to eat my pizza and just sit there.  Luckily the plane air conditioning cooled me down quickly and my pizza was good.

One of the tarmac buses

My seat, however, was not good.  I finally had a window seat, which was nice, but my seatmate and I noticed that the control panel for the armrest electronics was popped out, and sure enough, the headphone jack didn't work.  Which meant that my in-seat screen was mostly useless.  For a three-plus hour flight.  Greaaaat.  Not only that, but the WiFi wouldn't work either (my seatmate was trying without luck as well), and after this pleasant view upon takeoff, all I looked at for about three hours was the ocean.  Darn it.  Not sure what I was thinking...I definitely should have picked better.  Maybe the other side would have had a shot at coast views sometimes.  This was pretty, though.

The ocean was mostly visible the entire trip.  There were points of thin clouds where I wasn't sure, but usually I could see ripples eventually.  The clouds were mostly typical, nothing too exciting, but at one point I did look out and see this pretty rainbow in the middle of it all.

I'm not even really sure what I did to kill time.  I looked out the window but it was so bright I kept it closed a lot of the time.  I listened to music.  I played a few phone games.  I waited for the right moment to get up and use the bathroom (once my two seatmates were already up).  I had a plane snack.  I tried to nap, with no luck, probably because I was masked and my ears hurt.  I guess I mostly watched the map view on my screen.  It was long, but I guess a little peace wasn't the worst thing.  But I was beyond happy to see Long Island come into view.  The view of New York City was a bit smoggy, but if you look close you can see it in the distance.
  

Once we landed I surprised to find we were back to bus life to get to the terminal, and I got stuck waiting for the second one.  Once we got to the terminal we had to go through immigration, which was a wait but the process was quick and easy.  Much to my dismay, once I got through I followed the only signs that made sense and came to the realization that I had to go through security again.  Darn it.  I did get a glimpse of the super cool, architecturally famous TWA terminal across the street.  Had I had more time and fully processed the idea that I had to go back through security anyway so I was free to go, I might have wandered over there for a few minutes.  I have long wanted to see it.

But I was flustered and annoyed and my mom happened to call at that moment, as well, so I just went through the motions and got in line.  It was a pretty long, crowded wait.  As I got to the scanners, I realized in horror that because I had to go through security again, Carter's Country Club soda was a goner.  I was so sad...and annoyed.  But that was only the beginning.  

When I got into the terminal I needed to find food.  I went toward my gate to be sure where it was, but there wasn't any fast food nearby.  I noticed en route that it was starting to get dark outside.  It felt so bright when I had arrived, and now it was rapidly getting dark.  Talk about a time warp.  My sense of time was off all day.  There was a market right at the center hub of the terminal that had a few made-to-order food places and some grab-and-go.  But when I looked at a map there was a Shake Shack down one of the three hallways, so I wandered down that way, only to discover that it was still under construction.  I wandered down another hallway, and there wasn't anything there either.  I had no choice but to go back to the market, order a sub, wait about 10 minutes, and then head back to my gate to eat.  I saw plane wrapped with the New York Jets logo outside--might just be a regular Jet Blue plane since they sponsor them, but it was neat to wonder.  I was relieved to get on the plane, get my suitcase stowed right above my seat, and settle in.  It had a working screen and a jack IN the screen itself.  Whew.  I also got the WiFi up and running.  My seatmate came in shortly after me.  She simply sat down--I don't even think she had a carry-on--and promptly closed her eyes and fell asleep for the entire flight.

I half-watched the movie Migration on my screen, in between watching out the window and flipping to the map.  I did see the biggest plane I had ever seen out on the runway before takeoff.  It was a two-level Destination Dubai plane, which is apparently an Emirates Airbus A380.  Crazy stuff.  It was SO huge.  My picture doesn't do it justice because there's nothing for scale, so I won't bother sharing it.  But it was pretty amazing.

The flight itself felt very short.  The takeoff view didn't have any fabulous city views, but there were so many lights in the suburbs.  It was pretty.  Again, this doesn't do it justice because it's blurry, but you get the idea.

As we flew, the pilot announced we had to fly around some thunderstorms near Rochester.  Our original route looked like we'd come in south of the city.  I never get to see the city or the University of Rochester campus, and it looked like this would be no different.  But with the storms, I wondered if that could change things.  We flew over Binghamton, which was fun because I got to message Heather in flight.  As we got into the Finger Lakes, suddenly I saw quite the flash out light outside my window--lightning!  I wish I could have gotten that on video, but alas, this was the best I could get:

It was a good show the rest of the way in, although a bit unnerving.  I recognized when we flew over Irondequoit Bay, and to my delight, we did fly in past the city.  My pictures didn't turn out, but it was cool to see all the city lights and colored LED-lit buildings.  Bonus points that we also flew past U of R so I could see the Rush Rhees dome as well!  Better in daylight, but this was cool too.  I landed right around 11:30 and immediately called my mom.  I got off the plane pretty quickly, more relieved to be home than I might have expected.  I walked through a mostly quiet terminal, although another flight landed right around when ours did and was emptying into the terminal at the same time.  I came down to a busy luggage claim (yay for carry-ons) and walked out to a very warm night.  Did I mention it had been as warm, if not warmer, at home?  They'd had hot, humid weather in the 90s most of the week.  Crazy to think we were that close to the equator and yet it was hotter at home!  

Much to my surprise, the pickup area was a complete traffic jam!  At 11:30?  In Rochester?  What the heck?  I had called my mom to tell her what number pillar I was standing near, but in the end I called back to ask her what she was near, and I walked to her.  I loaded up right in the middle of the traffic gridlock, and off we went.  Jacob had come with her.  We had a nice chat on the ride home, and then of course Jacob was talking my ear off once we got back.  It was sweet, I guess.  He said later that I seemed very relaxed on the way home.  We were awake long enough to wish him a happy birthday!  How do I have a sixteen-year-old?  (Speaking of which, in all the rush, I haven't done a birthday letter.  Oops, coming soon, I guess!)  I headed to bed on the basement couch, since my parents were still sleeping in my bed.  

It was a whirlwind, but I made it home.  Now to settle back in, get Craig home, and get ready for the next adventure!

Escape to Paradise - Day 4

On Tuesday morning we were once again a bit slow getting going.  We decided that we'd do one more morning buffet day before doing a full sit-down breakfast the next morning, to give me a good base for the trip home.  I did manage to check my work email that morning before Craig woke up.  I cleared out a bunch of things and kept a few others moving, so that felt good.  The next day was a holiday so that was really all I felt compelled to do until I got back.

We did a quick breakfast and headed back to the gym.  The weather was looking a bit sketchy that morning and we could hear rumbles of thunder that became pretty solid cracks.  We knew some people were out on the golf course that morning, and as it turned out, lightning struck maybe 100 yards from one of the groups!  As we were working out, suddenly the power went out.  Luckily my machine didn't need power, but Craig was on the treadmill which stopped pretty suddenly.  It was only out for a few minutes and we were able to keep working out.  We heard later that the showers shut off without power, probably because the water is treated.  It rained pretty hard, but luckily most of the routes around the resort could be navigated mostly under cover.  I did come back and watch it for a while.

It stopped shortly thereafter but I used the time to FaceTime with my parents and Jacob (Carter was in school) and give them a mini-tour of our suite.  It was good to catch up and ensure everything was going well back at home.

I was determined to get back to the beach, so once the weather stabilized a bit, we got in our suits and headed out.  However, as we came out of our building, we ran into our friend John and his daughter.  John has been the scoreboard and TV production guy since I was working with the teams, and in fact was my TV producer during my short-lived hosting career.  When the Knighthawks moved to Halifax, he ended up becoming the CEO there (sounds strange but it worked--he won the Executive of the Year award the year the team moved as well as this year).  He was able to bring his daughter because she's 18 and they were only able to fit in time between softball tournaments.  He had just gotten there the previous afternoon, so of course we sat down with them to catch up.  It turned into a full afternoon by the pool, which again, is never a bad thing when you have good company, good drinks, and perfect water.  The thunder rumbled throughout the afternoon but a waiter assured us that we were fine--something about the ocean breeze pushing it off somehow?  We hung out with another production guy that John brings to Halifax for each game and his wife, and later the Gages and another Halifax guy and his girlfriend joined for a bit as well.  

Eventually things were breaking up a bit but I still wanted to get down to the beach for one more ocean swim.  It happened to be around the time when Curt, the owner who spearheaded this whole trip, had arrived and Craig felt it was important to go say hi.  So I went to the beach myself.  I did run into one of the assistant coaches and his wife who were sitting nearby.  I floated in the water for a bit, but the waves were way bigger than the previous day, likely due to the storms.  It actually moved you around a lot.  It was manageable, but not quite as relaxing.  It was sobering to hear less than a week later that a bunch of people died in Florida riptides, including parents of six kids.  This wasn't like that, but I could tell the difference from the previous day.  The clouds in one direction were interesting.    

The water was a lot more churned up.  There wasn't the pretty sandbar to sea green water delineation from the previous day.  

You can see in this picture that there's even whitecaps way out.

I tried sitting in the water near the shore, but not only was it knocking me around, but I also realized that I was getting massive amounts of sand driven up my butt.  I went back out in the water and frantically tried to rinse it out, but it was nearly impossible!  I got what I could, though.  The shower would need to do the rest.  Later on I realized there was sand trapped in the button on my Apple Watch, too.  It has defenses against water but I guess I hadn't thought about sand.  I couldn't even press the button for a bit.  It took a lot of pressing and turning for it to clear out and for the speaker and button to get back to normal, but it was clear that water was a different animal that day!  I sat on a chair for a bit until Craig came to find me.  We realized it was too late for much of a lunch because we were going out to a nice dinner later, so we ran to the adult-only beach club and Craig grabbed us little snacky sandwiches, plantain chips, and drinks.  This was the view from that patio, looking toward the cabanas and the bar that backed up to the pool bar we were at the previous day.
  

As a side note, I have to say, I wished for a bit more variety in the flora and fauna there (though no mosquitos, yay!), but sometimes I'd find something new.  This little flower caught my eye as we stood there.  It was so cute!

The beach views were so pretty, and I loved the colors of this ground cover.

We ran into a player and his wife in the cabanas nearby and ended up spending an hour chatting (interrupting their card playing...oops).  They have a couple young kids and she was a college athlete so we had plenty to talk about.  It rained a bit while we stood there but it was barely noticeable in the heat.  We eventually realized that we all needed to get going, as we had a timely things to do.  We ran back to the room, showered off (which was a lot of work for me with all that sand--I could have made a sandbox in the shower!), and got ready for dinner.  We had to be back to the main courtyard pretty quickly because Craig had to do an interview with the production crew that was on the trip.  I think he was introducing a video for the gala the following night.  It was pretty quick.  While I was waiting I snapped a pic of my bracelet, which was our room key.  It had to stay on all the time (it's literally clamped on when you arrive) and felt appropriately tropical.  I sort of wish they had a pretty version of it as a souvenir--I bet a lot of people would buy it since it feels like a big part of your experience.  

I tried to snap a picture of a little lizard I saw on a tree but failed, and also failed to spot a very vocal bird that flew into the super tall palm trees above me.  We saw a little lizard right when we got there, so I assumed it might be like Florida, but in the end I think we only saw a few.  We did see a medium sized crab (maybe three inches?) later that night, but he scuttled under the garbage can too quickly.  I guess two were fighting under a cabana near the pool one day!  

The skies were looking so pretty as I waited, and my goal was to get down to the beach for sunset.  It's not exactly the right direction for a real sunset, but I just wanted to see it anyway.

You could have a special dinner in the gazebo, and we saw people with a professional photographer there earlier in the week.

If you look close you can see the moon up there!

This was what was going on in the meantime...

More foliage while I waited.  I loved the yellow!
 

Finally we were free to walk down to the beach.  We didn't really have the right sun for golden hour, but it was pretty anyway.

While the skies may not have been spectacular, they were still really pretty.  To the right was a crazy, puffy cloud full of lightning, and to the left were soft sunset colors.

The beach buffet looked pretty all lit up...

...and its sand patio was so pretty with the illuminated pieces.  It was so dreamy.

The sunset colors got a bit more vivid as we watched.  The palm tree silhouettes were a nice bonus.

We realized while we were there that the restaurant we were going to was a long pants restaurant for men, and Craig forgot and had shorts on.  That meant we had to go back to our room for a bit, but thankfully it was on the way.  As we walked back out, the lightning show in between buildings was pretty crazy.  (Pardon the weird audio at the beginning...I was finishing saying something just as the video started.)

Our dinner was going to be the only one with just the two of us.  We had settled on the Italian restaurant, and it was elegant but fun, with some imitation murals.  This was my view from our table.  

We had agonized a bit on what to order but settled on some fried polenta as an appetizer, and I picked spaghetti carbonara for my meal. Craig was torn between a chicken dish and giving the salmon another shot.  When he tried to ask the waiter, he said he could have both.  Craig tried to dissuade him (which was extra challenging with the language barrier--which happened quite a bit, actually), but of course, both showed up!  He ate his chicken, which he really liked, and we both picked at the salmon.  The food was all really good.  We passed up dessert, though, as we were full.  We walked back to the room so we could both change--Craig's pants and my long dress felt extra warm that night, so we changed into something a bit more comfortable.  As we got to our door, we saw a lizard on the ceiling!  It reminded us of our door lizards at Disney, which was sweet.

We also had a beehive stuck in an eave near our room--not in a spot where it bugged us, but it totally caught me off-guard when I saw it.  I wasn't actually sure if it was a hive or a swarm but it definitely hung in there so I think it was a hive.  I'm shocked we never had issues with bees around, but I guess they were all content to hang out there.

We were heading back out to the sports bar for another game of the Stanley Cup Final, but I decided I wanted to take a walk and work off my dinner.  Even though it was sprinkling, I decided to walk over to the other resorts again and get a night view.  It was peaceful and pretty.  I had seen this heart in daylight the other day and wanted to get a picture, but if you look close there was a couple dining in the gazebo behind it.

Caribbean Street was pretty in the dark with reflections, although the wet ground was a little more slippery with my flip flops than I'd have liked!

I took some time to shop some of the stores.  There actually weren't a lot and each resort pretty much had the same stores with the same stuff, but I was on the hunt for different colors of certain things and still looking for ideas for Carter's souvenir.  I wasn't worried about Jacob because I was pretty sure he wouldn't like anything, and we'd be spoiling him the following weekend anyway.  But I knew Carter would want something, and I wanted a little something as well.  I came away emptyhanded but discovered the Michael Jackson show was on at one of the other resorts.  Ours had a circus act that night.  This little alley between resorts on my way back was so sweet.

I came back past the gym we had been going to and finally took a picture of this spot where the palm tree went through the cover over the walkway.

On the way back to the sports bar I went to another store nearby and finally found what I was looking for.  For Carter I got a little stone turtle that had a cool-looking shell that was reminiscent of his fancy rock collection.  I also got him a chocolate bar that had a Spanish wrapper.  For myself I found a little blue ceramic bowl that had pretty painting, almost mandala-like, that I wanted to hold my sugar packets for my coffee.  I had been using an annoying, half-broken container from the loose stevia I first bought when I started drinking coffee.  When that ran out I just started throwing the packets I switched to (less additives) in there.  But opening it was a pain and I wanted something pretty and meaningful, and this would be both!  Mission accomplished!  En route from the store to the sports bar I ran into our friend Tim, the Knighthawks super fan and booster club head.  He'd gotten the invite when Craig got asked who else should be invited (presumably when enough A-listers declined).  We suggested a bunch of the biggest fans, and a lot had to say no, but Tim said yes, as well as the owners of the bar where postgame parties were held for years.  It was a little weird because Tim and his wife (who I helped get engaged during halftime) had gotten divorced a couple years ago and his girlfriend (who we've also known for years) wasn't able to come, but he seemed to have a great time.  We ran into him a bunch and it was great hanging out.  I also lived vicariously through his posts after I came home!  That night I chastised him a bit (nicely, I promise) for smoking a cigar since he's still recovering from a couple rounds of A-fib near the end of the season.  He almost never misses games, so missing two was significant.  I don't blame him for sneaking one in in paradise, I guess.

Back in the bar I had my last frozen drink of the trip, a Blue Hawaiian.

The Oilers continued their comeback from three games down and won again to force a game six, disappointing a portion of the bar.  For the record, they actually forced game seven as well, but eventually lost to Florida the following Monday.

I was tired and ready for bed when the game ended, but sad to end my last night there.  My goal was to be up a little early the next morning and make the most of my time before I hopped on the airport shuttle.  Hard to believe this experience was almost over!

Escape to Paradise - Day 3

After our late night, we didn't sleep in super late on Monday, but we did only make it to breakfast with about two minutes to spare.  I felt a little hungover, but I think that was more the late night and general lack of hydration (primarily from sweating, but with alcohol layered on--but I always paced myself well).  On the way back from breakfast we stopped in the coffee shop so I could grab an iced coffee.  I needed the caffeine for two purposes - waking me up and getting my digestive system moving a bit since it hadn't done much since I got there.  It did the trick on both counts.  On the way back to our room, I caught another butterfly on the flowers!

I sat out on our balcony to enjoy my coffee.  It was hot outside, but the shade was pleasant enough.  I couldn't get enough of the view, so I had to soak it up while I could.

I will say that the pool courtyard was louder during the day than I'd prefer.  Early in the morning you could always hear bottles (presumably liquor) being carted to the bars, and then once the pools opened there was a constant din of kids in the pools across the way, plus whatever music or entertainment they had going.  The adult pools were quieter, probably because the foliage blocked some noise down low, but that was one of my few tiny complaints that patio sitting was loud.  I bet further down closer to the ocean it was better.  

After a bit of digestion, it was time to throw on the bathing suits and head to the beach.  It was the long-awaited day of the Aldi suit I bought to get myself excited for the trip.  Craig had really liked it and I figured I'd keep it for a day where I'd have it on a long time.  He was so pleased with it he took a picture of me in the room, and I'm posting it here because it made me look so skinny!  I swear, it's a magical one piece.  The only other one I've been happy with since I switched to two-pieces as a teenager (a few bikinis followed by a lot of mom-approved tankinis) was a black one I got on crazy clearance at JCPenney that is ruched across the belly and hides the fat a bit.  But this one is sexier for sure.  The back coverage isn't ideal, but on that beach?  Almost anything goes.

I opted to wear a hat for the day (we got two hats and a bag as our room gift upon arrival) to save my face.  My shoulders were a bit burned from inescapable sun the prior day, but my face never burned and overall I'd say I fared reasonably well for spending the better part of three days in bathing suits by water.  The afternoons did tend to cloud over a bit (but generally far less rain than Florida).  

Here was another pic Craig took of me.  Again, I look reasonably sized and very happy and relaxed, so I'll let it pass.

After the hot pool the day before, the ocean felt amazing!  It was so comfortable and so pleasant to wade out into.  We spent a lot of time with the Gages chatting, among others.  I could have stayed out there all day.

The sand was really nice.  I have a feeling seaweed is normally an issue there, but they keep the beach very well groomed.  There are small black pieces broken off in the sand, but they're not bothersome at all.  There were a couple pieces in the water, but nothing to get too excited about.  There were also no rocks or shells at all, which was good other than I'd have loved to bring Carter a cool rock or shell home.

We checked out the seafood buffet on the beach, but it was too much "real" fish for me, so we opted to just run into the normal buffet near the beach to grab a quick lunch.  After that we headed to a different pool and made use of the swim-up bar for a bit.  I caught this pic on the way up.  They used a bunch of these flowers around the resort, including to decorate our made bed a couple days.  So pretty!

This particular pool was better than the previous day's, definitely not as hot.  We mostly hung out with the Gages (theme for the day) but of the girlfriend of a Halifax staff member was there for a bit.  She's really sweet and we talked quite a bit during the week.  Jody Gage told us some crazy stories about happenings with the Amerks back in the day, around the time I left and ownership was transitioning, including some things I never knew.  All of the conversations we had during the course of the week were probably the best part of the trip, but being around some form of water (often with a yummy frozen drink in hand) was pretty awesome as well.  It really never got old.  (I don't miss wet suit bathroom runs, however!)

But eventually we needed to clean up and get ready for dinner.  We decided to do the steakhouse that night (again with the Gages), and it was very good.  The entrees took a bit to come out and our tenderloins were small, but the appetizers were fast and everything tasted great, right down to a chocolate cake we shared for dessert.  I do wish they had a sweet wine among the house wines.  The only moscato would have had to be bought in a bottle for extra, but for dinner that night I made do with the rosé, which they kept refilling.  Add in a mudslide at the Michael Jackson show afterward, and I was feeling good--maybe the only time I felt the slightest bit tipsy the whole trip.  I was feeling nice and relaxed when we took this picture!

The Michael Jackson show was fun.  The outdoor theater was nice and the temperature was always tolerable at night.  They did skip the disco MJ era which holds a couple of my favorite songs, so that was a bummer, but the performers were really good.  Here's a moonwalk:

The resort was so pretty at night.  Sunset was weirdly early there because of the proximity to the equator, the further-east time zone, and the lack of a "spring forward" hour since they don't observe it.  It was a bit of a bummer to be missing daylight past 9:30 at home and having it just after 7pm there.  But at least night was pretty.  They uplit the palm trees and there were things that reminded me a bit of pineapple bottoms lit from within lining all the walkways.  You can see one near the middle of the picture here. 

That night we decided to go back and get some use out of our jacuzzi tub.  We ran lukewarm water and I put on my one bikini that's not fit for public display!  I bought it at H&M before our second Vegas trip, which means it was 20 years ago now!  I loved it so much when I bought it other than it not having a padded top to--ahem--mask if I am chilly.  It barely fits but it's still oddly flattering in spots and I suppose I fill out the top better than I ever have!  We didn't spend a lot of time but at least we could say we did it!

Here's the view from our balcony at night.  With the pools closed (they closed at 6pm, which was a bummer but I guess it's a safety thing), it was so peaceful.

And with that, another night came to an end.  It had been a wonderful day!  It was hard to believe I only had one full day left, and at that point I was regretting not just taking the extra day and staying with Craig through Thursday.  I knew Jacob really wanted at least one of us home for his birthday, and I genuinely wanted to be there, but this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I was sad to be cutting it so short!