From this weekend you can sure tell that spring is right around the corner.  It was so warm on Saturday with bright sunny skies; it made everyone come out of their winter cocoon.

With that, more houses have finally hit the market and THANK GOODNESS!  As there was nothing left out there to look at.  Who would have thought that finding a house would be such a challenge!   I remember when I bought the house I am in right now in '98 I had oodles to look at and choose.  Now they are far and few between.  But we ran into a gem this week and everyone keep your fingers crossed!  It's finally one we like, that doesn’t really need a lot of work other than our own decorating and paint.  It's a big 1300 sq foot home in the south end of the city, right where we wanted it.  It's sound and has tones of potential.  Our offer goes in Monday night and I'm hoping, hoping and wishing that we get it.

So I know my last blog entry really sucked!  It was because I was too darn excited to get my photos up on the net to show everyone where we had been.  So now that I've unpacked and have sorted through my stuff I can explain a little more of the things we had done and seen while away on our trip.

In case some of your weren't aware, Greg and I stepped on a plane for a 12 day vacation to the Caribbean.  On January 24 we flew to Fort Lauderdale Florida where we would be spending the night to board the MSC Opera ship the next day. We had a lovely flight to Florida, but it took most of the day to get there, as we had to transfer flights in Toronto and go through US customs.   This was my first flight south and getting off the plane in Florida was wonderful.  I could feel the heat and humidity as soon as they cracked open the door of the plane.   With that my hair went poof!  Into EXTREEM curls with a great amount of poofyness! I suddenly remembered why I hate humidity.

From the Fort Lauderdale airport we were transported to the hotel.  The hotel experience turned out to be quite a challenge.  I don't think that anyone would expect it to be difficult to get a room that was reserved months ago.  I suppose we just have bad luck, but the third time was charm...yup, it took the hotel 3 times to get us a room that WASN'T occupied!  Imagine sitting in your hotel room and watching strangers have a key and walk in!  Because that's what we did to 2 people!  Talk about a lax in hotel security.  It turned out that that the hotel was in the process of turning into a Hilton the next day and they didn't have any computer systems up and running and their manual log of booked rooms SUCKED! But we did get a lovely room in the end.  

While in Florida I had the chance to hook up with some of my cousins, since they live in the area.  The night we got in Lorraine, Angela and Christopher took Greg and I out for dinner.  Thank you very much!  We were starving by that point as our last meal was a muffin at Winnipeg Airport at 9 a.m. and this was already 8:30 p.m.  We had a lovely little visit with Lorraine and her son Christopher and we had to try to catch-up really quick. it had been several years since I had seen them.  

The next day we had some free time and thank-you sooo much Angela and Phillip for taking us to see the beach!  It was exactly what I had wanted to do while I was in Florida, as this was my very first time ever seeing the ocean.  Kind of a thrill for me! By noon we had to report back to the hotel to be shuttled to the ship for boarding.   

By about 2 pm we had boarded the MSC Opera, and wow, it was a really neat experience being on a ship for the first time ever.  We were shown to our cabin where we quickly freshened up and ran about the ship to explore every corner possible.  I felt like a little kid running loose in a toy store!  I was waiting to hear my mom yell at me "Don't run away like that!" I think that within the first hour Greg and I had opened every door and suck our noses in to see what was there.  Besides, this was going to be home for the next 11 days so we had to see what it offered.   

So basically we were at sea for the first 3 days of the trip.  During this time it was great to sit and relax out around the pool deck, feel the warm air and the sunshine, take a dip in the pool and just unwind.  There were always activities going on around the pool by the entertainment team of the ship.   One big pass time on the ship seems to be eating so of course Greg and I indulged on the breakfast and lunch buffet almost every day and enjoyed a wonderful themed dinner every night.  With this being an Italian ship, the dinner theme was focused on a different region of Italy each night.  For me this was heaven as I love Italian food, I can honestly say that wasn't one thing I put in my mouth that I didn't love!! I had the opportunity to try so many new food and great flavors.  

On with our adventures, our first stop was Puerto Rico.  Here, Greg and I had the opportunity to tour one of the forts used to watch for pirates long long ago!   This was neat as it was very large and on top of a fairly high point which gave us a lovely view of the city of San Juan.  We then jumped back on the tour bus to visit the Bacardi Distillery.  This was neat, we learned some of the history around the company and we got to have a relaxing drink of rum at 10 am!   It was a better eye opener than coffee!  

Our next stop the next morning was Philipsburg St. Maarten.  I've always heard so much about the shopping here.  So that's what Greg and I took in.  We took a panoramic tour of the island with shopping. We visited both the French and Dutch side of the island.  I was kind of surprised to see so many cacti on the island.  It wasn't as lush and tropical as I had pictured.  But the shopping was fun.  We did a flea market on the French side and on the Dutch side we shopped the strip.  This was a street filled with mainly jewelry stores.  I have never seen so many in my life.  This was definitely the place if you were in the market for buying expensive jewels.  We looked at lots.. but didn't buy, it was too rich for our blood. But definitely a very pretty city.  

Stop number three was St. Georges, Granada.  This was a very different stop compared to the first two.  We didn't do too much of an island tour because we were doing a water event.  But we did run into town to see what it was all about.  Here is where the locals surrounded us to buy their spices, get taxi's for tours, and do about anything to get our business.  Since we didn't have time for that we purchased our cheap booze and headed for our Rum Runner tour.  We took a boat out on the water, stopped to feed some mighty hungry glutton type fish from the boat, drink all the rum we wanted and head out to the beach for some fun, sun and swimming.  We had a lovely time and this was actually my very first opportunity to swim in the ocean, which I love greatly!  We had the entertainment of a steel drum band and limbo line on board the boat.   

Stop number 4, Bridgetown, Barbados!  Oh what I do to be back there again!  This was our catamaran tour!  We set sail in the morning and didn't return to late in the afternoon.  We again had all the rum one could drink... and let me tell you we know of one lady who really took in all the rum she could drink, right Diane??  This excursion was the highlight of my trip.  The adventure on this tour was snorkeling with the sea turtles and the tropical fish!  I loved it!  The water was so blue, so warm and the turtles were so neat.  I could have been out there all day.  I would do that again in a heartbeat!  Most of the day was spent in the water with fish, turtles and good company of the tour members.   

Stop number 5 was Port Castries, St. Lucia.  This was my second favorite place of the Caribbean.  We took a 5-hour tour of the island.  What a lush and tropical island.  There was so much fruit and natural beauty that it took my breath away.  I'm a huge plant lover and there was nothing more spectacular than seeing all of the unique botanicals surrounding me.  I was a bit of a shutterbug on this island because I saw so many beautiful flowers, trees and other plants. This would be a beautiful vacation spot in the future.  

Stop number six was Road Town, Tortola.  Sound familiar?? It's because it's home to Pirates of the Caribbean!  This again was a very unique island... and actually lots of smaller island surrounding it.  Everywhere you turned it was so scenic, all the hills and islands who could resist taking photos.  We also visited a beautiful beach, Lambert Resort.  The waters were clear and blue with rolling waves and sand soo deep one could hardly walk in it!  The palm trees were perfect creating postcard like photos.  This would definitely be a place to vacation and feel like the rich and famous!  

Our last stop was Samana, Dominican Republic and the island of Cayo Levantado.  Unfortunately this was not one of the better stops of our vacation, for the simple reason we didn't have a great tour guide.  But the peninsula of Samana was beautiful.  Again very lush and this countryside has more palm trees on it than I had ever seen on all of the islands that we had visited combined.  And Cayo Levantado was a small island that all of the ships members were boated to.  It essentially is just a beach, a very large and beautiful beach with crystal blue waters and very white sands.  Almost like a paradise island to soak up the sun.

We're back! 

11 days in the Caribbean enjoying the fun, food, water and sunshine!  Too bad we had to come back to the -30 degrees here in Winnipeg.

Greg and I had an awesome time on our cruise.  During our time at sea we made it to 7 islands, Puerto Rico, St. Marteen, Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia, Tortola and Dominican Republic.  Each island was so different and beautiful in their own way, my two favorites being the waters of Barbados and the countryside of St. Lucia.  I could have wished for a permanent vacation in one of those two spots.  And we were lucky to have had wonderful hot sunny weather in all the places we went to.  We've even managed to come back with a tan line. 

The cruise ship was also beautiful.  We had wonderful service onboard as well.  Our cabin stewardess and our waiter were wonderful, we couldn't have asked for anyone better.  The cabin stewardess made our bed every morning and turned down the sheets every night for us.  It was almost like being tucked in bed.  And our waiter, Gede, never made a poor meal choice for us, the food was scrumptious especially if you like Italian food.  This being that our ship was an Italian cruise line called MSC. 

Check out the new photos in my album of the trip.

I have to admit I have been somewhat slack on my blog.  I think that picking up little quizzes and doing a cut and paste has been a cover-up for all the thing I haven't been putting in there.  It's all because I've been too busy!  Well.. too busy and also a little bit reluctant to sit at the computer at home once I've been staring at a screen at work all day too.

Even though the holidays are over, they really weren't holidays for me.  There was a lot of running around for 2 days from one family to the next and the rest of the time was spent at work.  I'm only 10 sleeps away from REAL holydays!  I can't wait! 

This will be my very first time going anywhere that DOESN'T include seeing family members!  I've been fortunate enough to see some bits and pieces of Canada and some of the northern US States, but that usually consisted of being in the car for 18+ hours with my parents.  And I could have been anywhere between the ages of 3 years to 26.  So... no family and I'm heading to the Caribbean! 

This all started out about 6 months ago, July, when for no good reason Greg really wanted to go to the mall.  Ok ladies, how often does your guy say he wants to go to the mall?  When he says it you darn well take him up on that offer!!!  So off we went.  Our normal routine at the mall is we walk in the door and split our separate ways and agree to meet back at those doors at a certain time.  The watches are synchronized and off we go, kiss, kiss.

Well that day I was only in my first hour of mall wondering when I see the boy running towards me waving papers in his hand... sooo excited that he could hardly even speak to me when he did ready me.  I heard something about cruise, Caribbean and cheap. Ok.. whatever babbling boy!   And off we went home.

Within the next few week I get a call at work from Greg asking me some questions like the legal spelling of my name... blah blah blah.  With that he said "I booked our Cruise for January!" OMG!!! He really did!  He told me he was treating me to a vacation!  Awesome!!!!  And now we are here!  Only a little better than a week away and it's hard to believe that the 6 months have gone by so fast.  I suppose our 12 day vacation is going to go by just as fast!

So I've been thinking about what to pack.... I bought a couple of new things, pj's.. I'm not going to bring the ratty ones I lounge in at home.  A few summer things as it's like 30 degrees where we are going.  I've got the bathing suits for all the water and snorkeling adventures that we are going to go on.  I have pack 2 nice dresses for the formal nights, Greg wants me to get one more elegant dress for the cruise.  I'm not so sure of that yet.... because I don't want to buy some fancy dress and never wear it again.  That's just not me. But we'll see how this week turns out.

I've got my Gravol just in case I feel the need for it.  I'm sure I won't need it on the boat, the plane to Fort Lauderdale is a different story.  I don't feel so well on the plane most of the time, and this is going to be a flight from Winnipeg to Toronto and then to Fort Lauderdale.  That's going to be a LONG day.

I've got this running list of what I have already packed and what I still need to pack.  My gosh, I just realized I'm going to need a separate bag just for the shoes I will have to bring.  I need my 2 pair of dress shoes to go with my dresses for the formal nights, my runners, my Birks for walking around, my flip-flops for the pool side and then there are Greg's shoes!  What's the baggage limit again??? I better check that out.

Wow, so much to think about, and that's what I only need to take.  I have to go through the house and make sure I've done everything here too.  I need to get everyone up to speed about taking care of the baby cats, the fish and what sorts of things to look for around the house when we're gone.  And make that list of  'Take out the trash' and 'Get rid of perishables like fruit and milk'.  I'm sure there is nothing worse than coming home and opening the door and having the odor meet you of what you forgot to do before you left!

Well here I am, Sunday night 11pm.  I should be in bed sleeping and having peaceful dreams.  Nope, instead I'm wondering the house with sooo many thing buzzing around to wondering if I'm ever going to get to sleep tonight.

So many things are happening!  And it's all at once!  Tonight we decided to put an offer in at this house we have been eyeing up.  We met with the real estate agent earlier to night, wrote up the papers and signed the cheque.  Now we wait.  We could have a response back as early as tomorrow.  It's exciting and yet it can play on the nerves for a while. I just want to know what is going to happen.  If we get it great!  If we don't... well more houses will come up.  I'll be disappointed I'm sure, but in the end I know that all things happen for a reason.

But this waiting is just going to be killing me.  I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon for Toronto for work.  I'll be gone for 3 days, and in that 3 days I'm sure I'm going to have a lot of phone calls home wondering what the news is all about. So.. on top of the house, I'm also going away.  I'm trying to make sure that I've packed everything that needs to be packed.  Did I forget anything? My pj's? I always for get those!  Do I have all of my business papers?  Did I bring a pen?  Is my laptop going to work?   How's the plane ride going to be? I sometimes get a little motion sickness on the plane so I hope that goes ok.  Do I have taxi money?  Apparently my taxi is going to cost me a fortune!  Thank goodness for credit cards and reimbursements!  Golly, I hope there is some place to eat in that town within walking distance or at least a store because I don't fancy hotel food.  Just all these things to think about. 

Oh ya, and then the big one to think about.  On Saturday night sweet Greg got down on his knees in front of me and presented me with a lovely ring!  A true sign that he is committed, and so am I.  So now we will have to think about when we want to tie the knot.  I hope maybe we can do that this summer in our new back yard, if we get it.   All these things just swirling around, how is anyone supposed to sleep? 

  That's my ring that Greg picked out all on his own.  Good job, don't you think?