slidergirl

That's why I got myself a balcony for Alaska - I didn't have to deal with the "railing scrum" that goes on trying to get a spot.

Woah! That is something so scary to happen out of the blue. I am glad that you did get sent to the ER and, despite the dreadful conditions, you were taken care of and are getting that cardiologist visit.

Phew! No shoulder surgery right now. Dr. took xrays and did a range-of-motion and push/pull tests on me. Said I'm pretty good on my range of motion and the rotator cuff and labrum seem OK. I do have arthritis in the joint, though. We knew that from the last time I saw him, in 2011. It's worse. My high pain threshold is sometimes a negative. BUT, he said he wouldn't do a replacement just yet. He gave me the ole' cortisone injection in the joint. Man, I hate that one! But, if it helps, I'm good with that. My shoulder hurts nasty right now from the injection. The xray procedure sure has changed. Didn't have to take off my necklaces and shirt! Dr. did say that I may be his longest patient - he did my surgery back in 2003 when he joined the practice. OOTD: jeans and my Athleta cammo Tshirt. I only would have to roll back the little bit of sleeve to do his thing.

If you are not adverse to a hotel instead of a vacation rental for Florence: I'd recommend The Market Urban Hotel. The price point is very good. The hotel is a small boutique place in location with easy and quick access to the train station and the main "tourist" attactions. There is a sister hotel, The Globus, nearby that people have mentioned on various sites that I belong to, which is also a nice boutique hotel. Driving around Tuscany was one of my favorite things to do. Of course, that meant no wine tasting. I just saved my wine time for dinners. Look on this board and maybe on that FB place for more ideas on small/private driver wine tasting tours.

The Mr. did give me a $100 when I gave him her glasses. Almost enough for another bottle of Brunello 😸 I hope you didn't have anything scheduled for the reschedule date! Now, you can at least take your time perusing the grocery store aisles. I had another "interesting" set of guests come in last night. They called me 5 times inside of the first 30 minutes of their arrival. I had the feeling they just picked a place to stay and did no research on what we offered, where we were, buy lift tickets in advance, etc. Apparently they are used to places where there are bellcarts on every floor, someone to help you with those bellcarts, someone to sell you a lift ticket, private drivers into town. They mentioned this kind of stuff every time they could inside that 30 minutes! Starting tomorrow we have the Presidents' Week crowd coming in. It'll be cray-cray. Lift tickets are already sold out at Deer Valley (where we are) so I'm anticipating some whining by a few guests they need us to get them for them. Sorry but we have no pull with DV to give us tickets. Hanging casual today. Have my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow afternoon. Honestly, I know surgery is needed. The only really bad thing would be if he tells me I can't wait until May (after the season) to get it done. That would blow my job and my bonus... OOTD: Vuori joggers and a sweatshirt. No one is going to see me today...

Well... My Tuscan Villa people left today to go home and then go to Italy. They brought down a bottle of Brunello for me. I'm drinking some now as I type! I had an email just as I was leaving tonight. She left her glasses on the kitchen counter. The Mr. is down in Salt Lake tomorrow for a meeting. She wanted to know if there was a courier service that could get the glasses to him before he flies home in the evening. I told her I could do it for her in the AM. She wanted to pay me, but I said I'd be happy with a scarf from her village in Tuscany that I can wear with my jeans (that she gave me!) and Tshirts and a bottle of seasoning salt from her friend Dario Cecchini (look him up). Those would mean more to me than some money. Example of people leaving common sense behind on vacation: A guest came by the desk tonight and yelled at me. "Who is stupid enough to run snow groomers at 3:30am in the morning??? My family has been woken up by them every morning and we can't get back to sleep. It's ruined our vacation." He was dead serious. First, our Lodge is not responsible for when the ski resort grooms their runs. Second, every resort I ever skied at has groomed at night - they can't groom in the daytime!!! Third, if you book a "slope-side" condo, expect to hear groomers grooming the run that you are next to! The guest said he's giving a 1-star review because of it to try to get the owner "to do something about it." My suggestion to him was to not book a slope-side the next time 😂 I haven't had anyone complain about groomer noise since I worked at the St. Regis 10 years ago. Gotta say - it's hard to keep a straight face and not laugh when people say things like this! OOTD: jeans, my old Switzerland zip neck shirt, my pinkish-red plaid scarf I got in Florence.

Today was a good day at work. No boss 😉 Nice people in house. Quite a few owners. I had to explain to some of them that I always work on Sundays, even Super Bowl Sunday. One owner brought down some sliders for me to eat. The couple who own the villa in Tuscany made sure I came up to their condo for awhile (brought the desk iphone and my keys) to watch the game and eat more food. The guys were talking about all the bets they made. I said I bet that Usher would take off his shirt. They thought I was crazy. Well, I proved them wrong!!! We had a good laugh over that one. They leave tomorrow to go back to the Villa until the end of March. I wish... OOTD: black jeans, my Deer Valley hockey sweater hoodie.

Have a wonderful cruise Sherri!!! I was totally whopped yesterday. Work was cray-cray with a bunch of checkins at once, packages to deliver, condos to inspect prior to arrivals, bake the apres ski cookies, set up and host the wine & cheese social. I had no help - the boss was doing something else. I was kind of like the weekends last year - so busy. I didn't take a lunch and I got out of there 30 minutes late. Tonight was just a little bit better, but still no help. BUT, I have a great bunch of owners in house right now. They always brighten up my day. The couple who owns the villa in Tuscany brought me a nice Valentines bouquet and then she brought down 4 pairs of Ralph Lauren jeans to take. They look barely worn and 1 of them still has the tag on them. Another couple who lives here 1/2 the year "forced" me to take the remainder of the bottle of Vinho Verde home with me. I love these folks!! OOTD: black jeans, charcoal Woolx turtleneck, Woolx plaid shacket.

That's me and my trail runners/hiking shoes. I like variety. But, when I travel, I can be boring with 2 pair of shoes 😉

I usually wear one, pack one. Both are usually multi-functional for day and night. I did take one extra pair of waterproof trail runners to Europe (and sent them home 1/2 way through the trip) and one pair of waterproof hiking shoes to Alaska. I've not been thrown out of a restaurant yet 😉

I've had that happen with my wash, too. I just rerun the "spin" cycle and all is good. I sure hope Melody and Les got out of CO without the snow! It just keeps coming here in UT. I did the ole' "slip & slide" the past 2 nights down the hill from work. Nothing really bad, just this one spot at the top of my drive where there is this curve that I always slip on. I know it's there so I'm prepared! Supposed to snow all day the next 2 days. Of course these are my days off. So, it's couch time! Joggers and a sweatshirt is the OOTD.

That's exactly the snow we had. Cement. When I lived in California and went skiing at Mammoth, we called their snow "Sierra Cement." Definitely much different skiing than the Utah powder! The stuff overnight was much nicer. Everyone coming back in from skiing said it was really nice. The sunshine all day probably helped, too. @cruisemom42: I call that kind of day the "curl up on the sofa" kind of day. The Sherpani Sakura print is pretty, too. But, I figured I'd go neutral this time. I have another bag with the cable lock - kind of nice to have, just in case. Lock it on a train or plane when sleeping. My old, old boss, who is now the company boss, sent an innocent email to me and my co-worker, asking how this other guy worked out filling in for our new boss the last 4 days. Well, I tried to be polite, mentioning that he was sitting at the desk when I came in before he went elsewhere for the rest of the day. My co-worker wasn't as polite 🙀 Neither of us thinks he does anything here. Well, now she knows 😼 We were both kind of surly today - we did not need a guy to help us out. OOTD: I did wear my black jeans, but I decided to wear my black/grey striped Mountain Hardware hoodie shirt. It's an oldie, but a goodie.

Snow update for Melody. We got a surprise bit of snow yesterday. Not a lot, maybe 4 inches. But, that will be heading your way. Another lazy day at work. I went ahead and bought cookie dough, some cheese and salumi so I'd have stuff for my Wine & Cheese apres ski. Friday night had some "vultures" so the stuff that I thought would make it through last night went away. A lot of folks doing a "grab and go" on the way to the hot tub. It'll be another lazy day today. But we pick up in a big way on Wednesday for the rest of the month. I bought a "prep for surgery summer" item for myself last night. A new Sherpani sling bag that I can put on my good shoulder. I remember having one the last time. Easier to use than a backpack or a crossbody. It'll be an excellent bag for travel, too - lots of anti-theft features to it. The Esprit AT is the name. There is also a non-anti-theft version, the Esprit, but I like the Straw color and it was only in the AT. OOTD: black jeans, charcoal long sleeve T. My Patagonia shell. It's turning out to be a good jacket when it's not that cold.

Melody: Have a RELAXING cruise you two! The snow hasn't been the big event everyone was hoping for today. It's a wet cement kind of snow because we're right on the rain/snow temp boundary. Only supposed to be up to maybe 5" today, then nothing until Monday. Cynthia - I understand doldrums. Cooking up something sounds good. I might do some soup tonight. Boss is gone on a week's long vacation. I asked him to buy some cookie dough 3 days before he left. He didn't. Going to have some disappointed kids tonight. I'll have to stop off at the store tonight and buy it myself. I can't do peanut butter ones (what I have left) because there are kids in house today and don't want to mess with peanut allergies. OOTD: black jeans and my new Deer Valley hockey sweater hoodie. My depression present to myself - big, comfy, and warm. I've had a bunch of compliments on it today. Not really something I'm supposed to wear to work, but it's on brand for the resort and I'm here alone so I don't care 😼 I wore in my Patagonia rain shell as it would protect me from wet snow today.

Yeah, I keep feeling like this should be my last season. But, I've already had some of the owners tell me they don't want me to go away. At least I have until next November to decide. My original boss does know me well. She knows what I can do. She knows I work Fridays and Saturdays alone - there must be something she likes if I'm alone on the busiest nights! I'm just trying to keep my head down and my mouth shut. I asked if we could get one more Master key to use as we only have one now and we have to share. Last year, we each had one. He looked at me and said "I'll have to think about it, I don't want others to get access to them." *****??? I got my stuff for my new great-grand nephew, Jett. I got 2 locally-made kids's books and the stuffed animals to go with them: Gilbert the Moose and Stetson, Street Dog of Park City. I always wanted to get them for gifts! I also got a stuffed Deer Valley Avalanche Dog and a Deer Valley Tshirt that he'll grow into for the Summer, A woman I worked with at the St, Regis wrote Stetson. We used to have a "Stetson Night" where we had a scruffy dog who looked just like Stetson come up to the hotel and interact with the kids and Jeannine would read from the book. And, to keep his 3 "sister" dogs from getting too jealous, I bought them a nice bag of dog bones from Rocky Mountain Chocolate. No chocolate involved so they are OK for them, OOTD: jeans, Mountain Hardware hoodie shirt, red Patagonia. It was in the 40s, but the wind was brutal. A "Pineapple Express" atmospheric river storm is coming tonight. Supposed to dump a bunch of snow on us,

Lois - good news on the numbers, indeed! Some of these new meds are working very well with lowering levels. Welcome to the Sisterhood of the Stuck Finger!! I had been feeling a little down in the dumps the past few days. Work is kind of bring me down. The new boss is on a major cleaning/getting rid of stuff spree. He's redoing all our storage cages. He's inventing new procedures, getting rid of old ones. Now, it's his prerogative to do it, but, some of the things he's doing have been in place for at least 5 years and have been passed down from boss to boss. It's also the first time I've been made to actually feel "old". He's having my co-worker do all sorts of stuff and they talk all the time. She's in her 50s so she not the usual 20-something I've worked with. But, I'm kind of left sitting at the desk and not knowing everything that's happening. My "old, old" boss who is now the company GM here has been sending me emails to do reservations, check on owners, some things that have usually been the domain of the lodge boss. I don't mind because I know how to do it all and apparently she trusts me. He doesn't really like it - he'll send emails asking to be notified. I know our maintenance guy isn't happy. He's talked to our old boss, too. More owners are coming in again in the next few weeks so I'll try to ignore things and just do what I've always done for my owners. Sorry for the rant. I'll just sit at the desk and collect my pay - I'll need it for my shoulder surgery!!! Day off. I need to go out and do some shopping for a gift for my week-old great grand nephew! He arrived a month early, but he's all good and healthy. He's already getting sweet kisses from his "sisters" - the 3 dogs. OOTD: jeans, longsleeve T. It's warm today - sunny and up to 45 today.

Melody you got the "rain" that we didn't get!! Maybe a half inch showed up. And, supposedly no more until after the 1st. My snowplow guy is making money off of me so far!! I was invited to "have a drink" at one of the owners place tonight as I was walking the floors, doing my end of the day hall checks. I almost started crying as 1)I was still working and 2) I had to drive home. Darn my ethics... And, this was the owner who gave that $700+ bottle of wine do the MD. I wonder what I could have had... OOTD: black jeans, Athleta cammo Tshirt and my tan-ish heather cashmere zip up hoodie.

Have a wonderful time on your cruise!

I did the most wonderful and relaxing barge trip with CroisiEurope last Summer. It was a fully-chartered barge with Adventure Women. 11 of us crazy old women. It was the Anne Marie, from Arles to Sete. The crew was so personable, yet professional. The food was fantastic. Sundowner drinks, drinkable wine. The barge has bikes you could borrow to go out and about when we were docked. Our excursions may be a little different from their usual since Adventure Women try to do excursions with a women-centric pitch (women-owned ranch in Carmague, women-run winery, women-owned oyster harvesting). One day we docked next to a park and our Cruise Director took us out and taught us how to play Pentaque, complete with the required drinking of Pastis! It was a hoot! I'd do it again if I wanted a laid-back trip.

I'm with you. Price doesn't always determine how a wine will taste. As much as I love wine, I don't think I'd appreciate it - I'd be too worried that I wouldn't like and I would have wasted it. I did have a glass of a very good $250 from Piedmont from another owner. Be sure you give enough time to go to the Cite du Vin in Bordeaux! I thought it was extremely good with all the education and interactive exhibits. I spent the good part of an afternoon in there.

Home at last! Here's my white high tops with the new laces. My owner who has the Tuscan villa had on a nice pair of white Adidas from Gucci. It had the red, green, yellow as the stripes. I told him he needed these laces:

You also say your "days" fall into the fee schedule. Are these separate days and not one after the other? If you are in Venice not just for a day you don't pay.

I'd switch out the leggings for some Woolx things. Get a pair of Stella leggings and a pair of the Ellie pants. They can both go outdoors and out for dinner. And, they don't stink up!!! I took my Stellas on my Alaska trip last April (last week of) and wore them every day daytime. As much as I like Tencel, I'm morphing my "travel" Tshirts to Woolx, too. Good in hot weather, good in cold weather. And, again, they don't stink!

Happy early Birthday Melody! Nice little bottle of Bordeaux. Speaking of Bordeaux: one of my owners brought down a bottle of Bordeaux for me to give to another owner as a "thank you" for looking at the xrays of his daughter's shoulder and doing some diagnostics on it (he's one of the top orthos in the US). I know the owner has some nice bottles up in his unit - I did a Vivino of it to see. Holy C$$P! It lists for $732!!!!! I was afraid to pick it up to give to the Dr. I will say that is probably close to how much is is for an office visit to him 🙀 Totally bored here yesterday and today and will be again tomorrow. Not that many people in house. No people here for Sundance. My co-worker and I were trying to come with things to do. At the end, we were looking at properties near where our one owner has their villa in Tuscany. I shouldn't have done that - now I really want to go back again SOOOOON. Not this summer - I have that saved for surgery... OOTD: My white flowered hoodie, blue jeans, my Taos white leather high tops. I put new laces on them - white with white was just tooooo bland. I'll post a photo tonight - it's on my iPhone and I'm on the computer at work (don't tell).

Melody - depending on which shoulder is the bum one, he may not like a cane. Just that pressure of using the cane could be painful. Just something to think about. I put lidocaine creme on my shoulder every night. It helps me some - I'm a big mover when I sleep I don't wake up with pain when I move as much. A nice thing happened at work last night. I got a $20 from guests who aren't even mine (their condo is managed by another company). I did do some things for them during their stay that I didn't have to do, but they were such nice people. My thinking is that, if you are staying in "my" lodge, I'll help if I can, even if you are not one of my guests. It's just easier to do something than to tell them they have to call their property management company for something. I got invited to a party at one of my owners tonight. If I didn't have to drive home, I would have gone up and had an Aperol Spritz. Darn. OOTD: brown & white striped heavy Tshirt and my black jeans.