Denversail

So let’s talk ducks. So many ducks. Of course Dupable was lurking on social media and caught wind of this phenomenon and had to participate. She promptly bought a duck kit and prepared a bunch of ducks for the trip. She was not going to miss out on what I can only describe as duck mania. I think we will have more ducks cruising than people.

I received an email from my credit card company this morning. They informed me that they are aware of my travel plans. They hope I enjoy my trip and they have put a travel notice on my account. They told me not to worry and I should be able to continue spending money without interruption. 👀

We are now all caught up. This point forward we are basically live. We have 5 days left until we leave. It is starting to feel like we are all going to make the trip. A lot can happen in 5 days. 😬

The dog’s recent meals have consisted of Teriyaki chicken, chimichanga, and cheesesteak. She really loved that cheesesteak. She ate more of that sandwich than I did. She still isn’t eating enough though and hasn’t been very consistent. I’m not sure we will ever be able to get her back on kibble. She really needs to get some fat on those bones.

This was my drive to breakfast today.

We are now 6 days out and I haven’t crossed much of my list. This is my way though. I now have 5 days of work in front of me. Plus a dog dental, bills to pay, packing, shopping, learning how to edit videos, and a meal plan for Wolf’s dog.

We are now 8 days out. The stress is starting to really set in. I’m super behind schedule. I have a 3 day weekend and then 5 days of work and then we leave early the next morning. I’ve already been informed I will be picked up at 7 am for the airport Sat morning. I still have laundry, shopping, figuring out my video stuff, packing, and other unrelated trip planning. I haven’t printed or at least saved over any of my travel docs. I have to leave a meal plan for the dogs. I also have to figure out all my bills for the month. My dog is also getting a dental on Thursday. So I have the next 3 days to knock about 80% of this off my to do list.

We are 9 days out. Super uneventful day at least for me anyways. Dupable was all sorts of excited. So around 4 days ago I let Dupable know that I think her car is leaking oil. So yesterday she decided to take her car in. They tell her she needs to replace some rubber ring seal thingy. They keep the car overnight. She picked it up today and when she arrives at my house insist I must hear this story about picking up her car. Here is how our conversation goes.. Dupable: We go to pick up the car and I’m complaining about why we have to replace the ring at 75k miles. The service guy starts explaining how they use the best quality rubber. So Good Sport pipes in and ask which rubber is that? The service guy actually knows and responds with the gibberish of the rubber type. Good Sport says that is the cheapest rubber on the market. I’m so proud of Good Sport for standing up to them. He spoke right up! He didn’t put up with it! 😍 Her face is all excitement. She is a little out of breath. This appeared to be the end of the story. Me: So you got a discount? Dupable: No. We stood up to them and didn’t let them push us around! Wolf: Then you immediately handed them your credit card and paid the $500 bill? Dupable: Well yeah. I needed my car back. 😤😂🤣😜 Like I said it was slow day in the entertainment department

We are ten days out and oh boy. I’m not really sure what I should say. I prefer the conversations when the parent is always wiser. I mean this just feels super awkward at this point. Dupable and I have basically been preparing for the dog to die. Wolf however for the last 3 or 4 days has been saying he thinks she is fine. We were concerned that he was in denial. Wolf appears to have been right. She seems just fine. Before this episode she was eating 1/2 a cup of kibble per day. She ate 3/4 a cup of kibble today. She is on her 3rd day of appetite stimulant which we will stop after today. This is the first time she has eaten kibble in 3 weeks. This has made us super hopeful that we can carry out our original plans. 🤞

I got an email this morning that I still have time to bid for my cruise that is in 6 days. I think they wait until the last minute. Well at least for the suite bids.

So Dupable started going on and on about the cold weather again today. She also made some other comments that make me think she has been spending time on social media. 😮‍💨 I guess we will see. I realize we could end up in a storm and not enjoy the weather. This just seems like an unlikely pattern for the entire week. This is the Caribbean mon. 🏝️☀️🌊

She is now back home. I ordered kabobs for dinner and she inhaled a few pieces of steak. That was the one useful piece of advice they gave us. They were like toss all your rules out the window and give her all the things she wants that you would usually say no to. That seemed to work this time around or the stimulant worked. Who knows? 🤷‍♀️ I’m glad today is over. It was a bit of a roller coaster. My favorite part was when Dupable started explaining to the doctor how test results work. In Dupable’s opinion the doctor saying the test results are basically the same isn’t acceptable. She assertively informed the doctor that it is impossible for the results to be the same. They either had to be higher or lower. 🙄 I think we are right back to where we were 17 days out. Will Wolf still make the trip? Will his dog recover? Will we be mourning two dogs? Same unknowns. So we wait….

We are now 12 days out. I decided I was going to go into the office this morning. I would pump out as much work in the morning as I could and then come home and help deal with Wolf’s dog. The plan was simple. Dupable would pick up Wolf’s dog and drop her at the hospital to get her test. They said the process would take a few hours. We would then all go together early in the afternoon and hear the test results. As usual when Dupable is involved this simple plan went south pretty quick. She goes to drop the dog off and they ask if she is there to do her bloodwork again. Dupable starts to get worked up and says no she should be getting a liver function test. They try to explain to her that she will need both test. Dupable throws a fit. They end up putting her in a room (I assume she was causing a scene) and sending a doctor in to talk to her. The way Dupable describes it is the doctor basically said if her liver values aren’t improved there is really no point in taking the function test. If none of her medications are working the next steps are aggressive and expensive. So if we aren’t going to do those things the test just becomes informational. At this point in the story I’m just confused. I haven’t been to the hospital with them on most of their visits but it feels like we are being told different things each time. I still don’t know for sure if that is what is happening or if Dupable is just struggling to relay the information. So by the time we are returning Wolf and I are unsure what kind of circus Dupable has created. When we get there they immediately told us that her lab results look the same. They have however already started the function test. They got the pre sample but they need her to eat to get the final sample for the test. They seemed to think they were going to give her an appetite stimulant and she would eat a decent amount of food. Not gonna happen. So after being there for over two hours trying to get her to eat I told them we were done for the day and want to take her home. Now they state that they don’t think she has anything terminal and her levels are all due to her not eating. At this point they are saying this because I’ve basically said tell us what is happening. Are we taking her home to die? All they give us is an appetite stimulant to give her at home. They have now decided her levels could all just be due to her not eating. They said any further treatment would require a specialists in internal medicine. If we can’t get her to start eating the specialist would put a feeding tube in her. So about 5K later and we are still at the symptom of she won’t eat. This is the first piece of information we shared with them. 😖

My plan for today was to head to the mall and do some shopping. I think that plan has gone out the window. I’ve held up pretty well to this point. It is Sunday morning and Wolf left for work around 5 am. At around 8 am I attempted to feed her. She has medication that needs to be taken with food. I tried treats, baby food, eggs, hot dogs, watermelon and peanut butter. Nothing worked. About half way through this effort I just started sobbing. She is dying and I can’t do anything about it. I don’t know that her death will be the outcome but it seems inevitable in this moment. All those emotions hit me all at once. You can basically see her entire skeleton. I considered making myself a really strong drink. It is around 9 am and even I thought it was a little too early for that. So I settled on Mimosa’s. Who doesn’t enjoy having a Mimosa on a Sunday morning?🍾🥂

I don’t know how many of you have spent time in an animal hospital. This has to be one of the most depressing places on earth. I don’t know how people work there. I’ve only been once when we went to visit the other day. When we walked in a woman was sobbing in the entrance. I assume that she had just put down her pet. Wolf said yesterday as they were checking out that a family of 5 came in holding a dog and they were all sobbing. When the lady asked them what happened they said they think the dog is dead. They said he had just been sick for two days. They then found him unresponsive. All while sobbing and holding the dog. Just thinking about the stories makes me want to cry. I don’t know how the workers keep their composure.

We are now 13 days out from our trip. Wolf took her in yesterday for more blood work. Her levels look worse. Her Lepto test came back negative. They are now suggesting we fast her and move forward with the liver function test. Today is Sunday so their lab is closed. We will fast her tonight and Dupable will drop her back at the hospital tomorrow morning for the test. She is eating maybe a jar of baby food and a few treats a day at this point. Obviously not enough to survive on. Up until about 4 months ago pre dental surgery she was eating 1/2 cup of kibble a day. After surgery it was more like 1/4 cup kibble and 1/4 cup chicken. So we wait…

The four of us all took our first cruise together. It was on Monarch of the Seas back in 2004. Anyone remember that old Royal ship? We booked an inside for the four of us. Our room was this tiny box with two sets of bunk beds. It reminded me of Jack’s room on The Titanic. We could barely move around in there. To top it off Good Sport decided to indulge in escargot. Good Sport hasn’t always had the best digestive if you know what I mean. Imagine having to go through life without being able to enjoy yummy Mexican food? I couldn’t imagine! I love spicy food. Anyhoo they were either bad snails or his body just rebelled. It was like NO thank you sir. Fun times! We haven’t shared a stateroom since.

So I had a difficult time staying awake to do the check in for our first cruise. Dupable is a night owl for sure and did better. Dupable and Good Sport got an 11:30 time on the first cruise. Wolf and I ended up with a Noon check in. If I recall even if they are enforcing it they will still let us pass with Dupable since we are traveling together. The only issue here is getting on so we can make our dining reservations. We will target getting to the port about 11 and see what happens. We hope to be able to make the following reservations: Sun - Chops lunch, Sushi dinner Mon - Beach Club lunch, Giovanni’s dinner Tues - Chops lunch, Hibachi dinner Wed - We will probably just try and hit playmakers, sushi, or Buffet Thurs - Wonderland Fri - Giovanni’s lunch, Chops dinner We have for the most part been successful booking what we want on past cruises. We do typically have problems with getting into Hibachi. They always only seem to have times after 8 o’clock. That is way late for me to be eating. If needed though I will of course go with the flow. I’m hoping we can get in on a sea day and we will just book a later lunch if they push our dinner late. For those who are unaware they do charge a per person up charge for eating Hibachi with the unlimited dining package. So much for being unlimited. On Oasis earlier this year it was $15 per person. It is worth it to us. We all love Hibachi. We used to have a Benihani’s near our house that we would frequent but we have since moved. No good Hibachi near us that we have found so far.

Well it appears that boarding Wolf’s dog at a vet or hospital won’t be possible. They require that she have K9 influenza and Lepto vaccinations. They said these take two weeks to go into effect and then they require a two week window after that. So that took that option quickly off the table. Even if they didn’t require 30 days we still wouldn’t be able to do it. She is too frail for that right now and I doubt any vet would administer those shots to her in her condition. We wouldn’t want them to. Back to square one.

Good Sports Mom’s procedure went well. They were able to clear the blockage in an artery and she has been released from the hospital and is heading home. This is a temporary fix that bought her some time. They expect the artery to become blocked again. She thinks she will lose her foot before the end of the year. At least for now she is back home and in less pain.

We are now 15 days out. I guess over the next few days we will have to decide how to proceed. Some decisions will need to be made. The original plan was to leave Wolf’s dog at home with Mr IT. Considering her current condition that doesn’t seem like the best idea. He works 10 hour days and I don’t want to burden him with the stress. So we have decided that the best thing for her would be to board her at a vet or hospital. This way she will have access to medical care if needed. They would also have the time to attempt to feed her multiple times a day if needed. This would just be for the first week. Dupable would just pick her up when they get back and keep her the second week. Wolf was able to get her to eat her pill last night. I was successful this morning getting her to eat a treat and a little more than half a jar of baby food. I hope that is a good sign. They want her back this evening to draw some more blood. I’m still hopeful that she can fight this off and turn things around. 🤞

Our last vacation was this past April. We were on Oasis. I did the first week solo and the others joined me for the second week. This was my first solo trip. I discovered that I love traveling on my own. Don’t get me wrong vacationing with others is nice it is just a different experience. When I first thought up this trip I had expected to do the harmony leg on my own. Wolf spoke up and decided he will want to stick with me for the second week. I’m ecstatic he is joining me but was a little surprised. Like I mentioned Wolf and Dupable are very close and I had assumed he would just return home with her. I think it just being Wolf and I on the Harmony cruise is what suckered me into the Royal Up bid. It is actually the first time I’m in a situation where I could bid. This will be my first cruise with only two traveling since they started it. It’s talked about a lot on CC but you don’t really want to be messing with Royal Up if you are traveling with folks in other cabins. You will end up getting separated from your parties cabins. If you gained suite benefits those are pretty useless if your entire party doesn’t have them. The only time that wasn’t my cruising situation I was solo. How much room does one person need? Wolf and I always book ocean view balconies. We are perfectly satisfied with those staterooms for the two of us. It would be fun to try the luxury experience once but not something we will probably ever outright book. With my new discovery that I love to travel solo I’ve made some decisions. I’m going to be taking two vacations a year for as long as I can starting now. I’m also ready to start doing some of my bucket list travels. Mr IT doesn’t have the vacation time that I do so he isn’t able to do these types of trips. I want to live now and have experiences now. I don’t want to wait until I’m retired when I may or may not still be able to do such things. I might be physically or financially limited by then and I don’t want to pass up my opportunity now. I might not even be living by then. It is impossible to know how long we will each exist. Some of the trips I want to do are also a little pricey and it seems easier to spend that money now. I might not have the budget for it later in life. Okay let’s get off the morbid and back on track. This trip will likely be my last to the Caribbean for at least the next few years. As Taylor Swift says… I think I’ve seen this film before. Next trip up is the Greek isles in Sept on Odyssey. That one is already booked and deep in the planning stages. I’ll be making that trip with my sister and her husband with some solo traveling post cruise. This has been a trip I’ve been wanting to do for many years. I’m super excited about it. When I return home from the Harmony I will be booking my spring 2025 trip. This one will be Tahiti on Windstar. We have always travelled as a family on mass market cruise lines. Our kids are all grown. I don’t use any of the bells and whistles on those ships. I personally don’t go to shows. I haven’t gone down a water slide in several years. My pocket book would benefit from the absence of a casino. We enjoy the speciality restaurants but wouldn’t need those if the free options were improved. I feel like we just continued on these types of trips out of habit. I don’t think at this point in my life I need to keep traveling with 5K other folks. I’ve got the time and the dime to do something different. So let all the amazing adventures begin….

Wolf is pretty upset about his dog. In her first hour home she wouldn’t eat. We had to force her mouth open to give her the liquid antibiotics. We are supposed to give her the pill form liver blocker in two hours and he doesn’t think she will eat it. He is difficult to talk to in this moment. I’m starting to wonder if this might be a solo trip for me. So many life crisis happening all at the same time. Things aren’t looking up. So we wait….

I might question the amount but not where it was going. I think that is what I find odd about all the tipping post. I could see myself creating a fuss if I thought I was being taking advantage of or overcharged but how the tips are distributed? I just think the argument is self serving and not for the actual concern of the workers. It is just BS. If you don’t want to tip accordingly then don’t. Stop trying to pat yourselves all on the back for it.

Well my thread has gained 3 followers. At least I’m not this guy.🙈