*OFFICIAL* CC Group Cruise 02/15/2014 Cupid's IV Southern Caribbean - Carnival Breeze

[Flick]

It has been a strange day here. I went to the doctor's office this am to get my shot then returned home. Realized I had forgotten to buy milk while out so went to the car to go to the store and....dead battery. At least I made it home. Called AAA who came almost immediately, got the car started and went to buy a new battery. While there I decide to get a front alignment which I had been putting off. The upside to all this running around is I had started the laundry then had to leave and when I finally got home Kay had done all the rest of the laundry. (First time in many moons.......a few years ago we drew up a treaty of shared duties in the house and I pulled the short straw so I get to do the laundry every week.)

[AKB10]

Just checking in. Looks like a quiet day here.

Rick, glad you got a vacation from the laundry. Kay must have felt sorry for you. :D

[Dspcentury]

Hi Cupids...

Just checking in.. I know I have not been here in a while but been preparing for our cruise back on the NCL Epic..can't wait and also preparing for the NYC Marathon. So things have been crazy!!

I hope all is well...

[walkswife]

Well we gt the new store open today.... made for a long weekend.... 15 hour days setting up and getting ready..... hopefully life will calm down now....

[momofzeke]

We started our corral rebuilding project yesterday. Our ranch has been in Dave's family for 102 years...his dad rebuilt the corrals in the late 1940's, probably 1948. We have been slowly replacing parts of the corral system over the last few years, as needed. We are tackling the biggest of them which is the one we brand in, get the cows in before sorting, etc. It has to be strong. Yesterday, we got the whole thing torn out except for the gates, which we will do today. Dave had to go to town to get posts and lumber yesterday afternoon.

 

As we look at some of these huge poles that we are taking out with the tractor, it's amazing to realize that when Dave's dad put them in they did it all by hand because they didn't have tractors with hydrolics back then. These corrals are 8 feet tall, so they would have had to lift them way up high to drop them between the posts...and they were green at the time so must have been extremely heavy. He must have had a crew hired to help him, but it still would have been a huge, exhausting job. We have it easy with all our equipment to help us.

 

It was absolutely gorgeous here yesterday, in fact it got pretty hot, around 85! Crazy weather. But I'm sure not complaining, I love this beautiful Fall weather.

 

Sounds like everyone's pretty busy. Have a great day!

[Flick]

This is a recent picture of a corner of our living room with 200 backpacks waiting to be labeled with a number for each child.

[HeidiHo]

Good Afternoon!

 

I'm very excited today. Eric bought his ticket home. He'll be home on Oct. 24th. ONLY 3 MORE WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D Actually, this trip ended up being shorter than his semester in Argentina but he was originally going to be in Vietnam for 6 months to a year so when he left it was much harder for me than it was when he left for Argentina.

 

Have a great day. :)

[Flick]

Great news Heidi! I see Chicago is rapidly cooling down...you only expect a high of 66 today. Our nights haven't even gotten that cool yet!

[momofzeke]

Another beautiful morning here! Got very cold and froze last night, but since we don't have a garden, who cares? :p

 

Heidi ~ I'm so happy for you that Eric will be home soon!! YAY!!! :D

 

Rick ~ you & Kay do some great work!

 

Our corral is GONE. It is so weird to go down there and no big corral. Dave is down doing some cleanup before we get started rebuilding. He'll come get me when he needs me.

 

I like helping him with these kinds of projects, especially when the weather is so nice. It's nice to be outside on days like these.

[HeidiHo]

Good Morning!

 

I see Chicago is rapidly cooling down...you only expect a high of 66 today. Our nights haven't even gotten that cool yet!

 

Yes, it's cooling down but we haven't had much in the way of real cold weather. I've still only worn a jacket a couple of times but it's not T-shirt and shorts weather anymore. I'm very surprised to see that my vinca flowers are still looking nice. They are the most cold sensitive flowers I have and are usually dead by now. It's rainy today too. My dog usually likes to spend the entire day outside so this morning she was anxious to go out and I knew she wouldn't be happy till I let her out so I did and she walked out onto the patio, realized it was raining and turned around and came right back in. LOL. She's not asking to go out anymore.

 

I am happy that Eric is coming home but at the same time I feel bad because this trip didn't turn out the way he had hoped. The job and everything worked out fine, he was just lonely because he didn't have anyone to hang out with and do things with. He missed his girlfriend too. He said he's not sorry he went though, it was still a great experience and he's going to finish work around Oct. 12th and do a little travelling before he comes home since he hasn't had a chance to do that wince he got there. I don't think he's been out of Hanoi. I suggested he do that before coming home because he may never get back there.

 

Have a great day. :)

[Cruisin Dave]

Good morning Cupids,

 

Heidi, that's great news concerning Eric. We all know how concerned you have been about him. Here's to a safe journey home.

 

Sue, enjoy the autumn days while they last. I love this time of year. We expect cooler temps this weekend with highs in the 60s.

 

Rick, great work on the backpacks. Last week I was experiencing slow starts with my car and had it check. Now I have a new battery. Glad I had it tested. It was still within warranty.

 

Dave

[momofzeke]

Morning!

 

Wow, has it cooled off here in a hurry! Day before yesterday, it was 80 degrees and I was sweating my buns off in the corral while helping Dave. Yesterday, I had to wear a sweatshirt, it was chilly! Had to bust out the fuzzy robe last night too, and I have it on again this morning....brrrrrr! Bailey Kitty is happy about this turn of events, cause he LOVES my fuzzy pink robe.

 

Dave ~ glad you got your new battery while still on warranty! SCORE!!

 

Heidi ~ that's good that Eric will do some traveling before coming home. He might as well see some sights in Vietnam while he's over there.

 

We are making good progress on our corral project. Got 3 of the gates hung yesterday. It's a time consuming project, because my hubby is VERY particular about hanging them straight. I pick up the gate with the backhoe (on a chain) and take it to where it needs to be hung. Then we use blocks to get it to the right height off the ground. Then I take the level and hold it against the gate while Dave welds a plate to the giant metal post, and then welds the gate to the plates. It doesn't sound like much, but it takes a long time to get it just right. Then, he didn't like one gate, so he cut it loose and we rehung it.

 

Those were the hardest gates, because they had to be welded onto the post. The rest of them will be mounted on wood posts. We'll work on those today. The old corral had 5 gates on the part we are replacing, but we are adding 2 more in spots that need a gate, so we have 4 more gates to put in.

[Flick]

Well today is going to be one very busy day. We start packing the backpacks tomorrow so today we go to the Food Bank for bread (they give us bread for free..imagine having to buy 200 loaves of bread!). Then to the distribution center where we have to post all kinds of signs (what food goes where, plus team names and menus in case we aren't there to guide). That should take a good part of the afternoon then both Kay and I have meetings tonight (only 26 miles apart and 1 car.....!)Tomorrow, we actually pack the bags for the first time this year...seems like it took forever to get to this point but the teachers wanted the school population to settle down before we came in. (I just realized I said we were packing tomorrow twice....oh well.)

[Cathy p]

Good afternoon, Breeze buddies!

Sorry I have not been on but Kenny got some type of flu the day we got off the ship and it has hit him hard. Since he has Asbestosis we have to watch the ole lungs carefully. He is on a antibiotic and still is not doing that great. We need to call the doctor on Friday if he does not see a dramatic improvement.

 

He has taken care of everything since I went back to work so I have done nothing but clean and taken care of my guy since we got home.

 

I will check on what everyone has said since I have been gone but not until my guy gets better.

 

I love you all my new Breeze family!

[Flick]

Hope Kenny is feelin' better real soon....

[walkswife]

What a fun day at work.... I work for a cheese factory and retail store... some days in the office some days in the store.... today I got to be the sample girl....lol.. talk banter and bs all day ..... i love bouncing around my ADD doesnt kick in then.....lol

[momofzeke]

Cat ~ so sorry to hear Kenny is not feeling well! Hope he gets better soon!

 

Renee ~ yay for you, girlie!! Glad you are enjoying the new job!

 

Corral project is coming along. Yesterday, we got one section done..it looks so good! Got another gate hung and it is a heavy sucker....slipped and conked me on the shoulder...YOUCH!

 

Heading out after lunch for Eugene...Duck game tomorrow!

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

[Flick]

Packed and distributed backpacks this morning. Only one went to the wrong school out of 120 but we found it and brought it back to the correct school. We are exhausted and this is only the first time this school year!!! (On the other hand maybe we are exhausted because it is the first time in three months....Gotta get the ol bod back in the routine!)

Very busy weekend (as if most of them weren't). Tonight we go to friends to play chicken foot dominoes, tomorrow I escort several big wigs thru our backpack distribution center, then tomorrow night we have a dinner dance and on Sunday we have a concert/fundraiser. At this rate it will Tuesday nite before we can relax......our way, over a bottle of red wine!

[walkswife]

All I can say about the new store is "build it and they will come"..... holy crap its been busy.... can't wait for Sunday to have a day off!!!:o

[HeidiHo]

Good Morning!

 

I just got back from a 2 hour meeting at the OG. At least they gave us doughnuts and then when we started going over the new menus that start on Monday they gave us sample of the new wines and entree's. Nothing like wine at 9:00 in the morning. :eek: Since one of the other girls I was sitting with is pregnant I got her wine samples too, except the red. She drank that. Supposedly red wine is good for pregnant women and it was only about a half ounce anyway and she's like 8 1/2 months along so I'm sure it was OK. At least I made up some of the time I missed on Tuesday because I gave away that shift.

 

It has really gotten cool here now. It's sunny but only in the low 40's. It probably won't get much above 50 today.

 

Renee, what's the name of the cheese factory you work at? I am going to order some cheese on line. I used to buy one called Door County Garlic Jack at Costco but they stopped carrying it. Do you carry it? The Beechwood Cheese company has it on line. I LOVE that cheese and was very disappointed when Costco stopped carrying it.

 

Boy, the roll call for my Princess cruise is really slow. Several people of posted to it but they don't check in often so days go by with no posts at all. I hope as it gets closer it gets more active but we are under 3 months already. That reminds me, I need to get my airline tickets purchased. We're probably going to end up on Spirit again, just like we did in Feb. Same flights in fact. I don't really like Spirit but it's the cheapest and the flight times are OK.

 

I have the rest of today off but have lots to do.

 

Have a great weekend.

[walkswife]

Good Morning!

 

I just got back from a 2 hour meeting at the OG. At least they gave us doughnuts and then when we started going over the new menus that start on Monday they gave us sample of the new wines and entree's. Nothing like wine at 9:00 in the morning. :eek: Since one of the other girls I was sitting with is pregnant I got her wine samples too, except the red. She drank that. Supposedly red wine is good for pregnant women and it was only about a half ounce anyway and she's like 8 1/2 months along so I'm sure it was OK. At least I made up some of the time I missed on Tuesday because I gave away that shift.

 

It has really gotten cool here now. It's sunny but only in the low 40's. It probably won't get much above 50 today.

 

Renee, what's the name of the cheese factory you work at? I am going to order some cheese on line. I used to buy one called Door County Garlic Jack at Costco but they stopped carrying it. Do you carry it? The Beechwood Cheese company has it on line. I LOVE that cheese and was very disappointed when Costco stopped carrying it.

 

Boy, the roll call for my Princess cruise is really slow. Several people of posted to it but they don't check in often so days go by with no posts at all. I hope as it gets closer it gets more active but we are under 3 months already. That reminds me, I need to get my airline tickets purchased. We're probably going to end up on Spirit again, just like we did in Feb. Same flights in fact. I don't really like Spirit but it's the cheapest and the flight times are OK.

 

I have the rest of today off but have lots to do.

 

Have a great weekend.

 

 

The company I work for is Renards Cheese..... the website is www.renardscheese.com.... we ship all the time.... that cheese doesn't sound familiar but we have amazing stuff...

[minniem64]

Just wanted to say I will be joining you all on this cruise!

[Cathy p]

Good morning, Breeze buddies!

 

Thanks for the well wishes, Kenny is feeling much better. I now have my chief cook and bottle washer back. Whew I forgot what it was like to do everything. It has been awhile for that.lol I am so very spoiled.:)

 

I just read up on everyones happenings since we have been gone.

 

Heidi, hope the neighbor is doing fine. Glad that Eric is coming home and people are so inconsiderate about being on time.

Rick, glad you are almost there with all your backpacks and maybe Tues you can relax.

Sue, YEA!!! another project at your ranch. I can't wait to hear all about every board that is put up.

We went and caught up at the American Legion yesterday which was fun. I am off today and just kind of doing nothing. I do have to start my walking and excercise program again. I could not believe when I got home I had lost 1 lb. I guess that is from all the walking we did. Not to forget the tons of food and drinks that we had. I think we tried all the frozen concoctions that they made and I even inventented a couple.lol

Well will chat later, have a super last day of the weekend everyone.

[HeidiHo]

Good Morning!

 

Boy, the roll call for my Princess cruise is really slow. Several people of posted to it but they don't check in often so days go by with no posts at all. I hope as it gets closer it gets more active but we are under 3 months already. That reminds me, I need to get my airline tickets purchased. We're probably going to end up on Spirit again, just like we did in Feb. Same flights in fact. I don't really like Spirit but it's the cheapest and the flight times are OK.

 

 

Someone new posted on the roll call for my Princess cruise and said that she is cruising with her 22 year old daughter, just like me. Hopefully we'll get to meet.

 

I also bought our airline tickets yesterday and didn't have to buy Spirit. I took a chance and bought AA. Now, hopefully they won't go on strike. I got lucky and AA was just a bit cheaper than Spirit yesterday. I just don't like Spirit because they charge you for EVERYTHING and they have the least amount of legroom I have ever seen on an airplane. I am short and still I felt like the seat in front of me was right in my face. Plus, you can only take a 40 pound suitcase instead of 50. Spirit also charges for carry on's that go in the overhead bins (even more than checked bags). They don't charge for carry on's that go under the seat though so Dave and I took back packs instead of rolling carry on's. They also charge extra if you want to pick your seats and since I refuse to pay for that there's always a change that you won't be able to sit together. I would only pay for that if I was travelling with a small child or MAYBE if it was going to be a real long flight. The AA flight times I got are better too. Going to FLL on Spirit we would have left Chicago at 5:30 AM but the AA flight is 7:10 so we still get in early enough to enjoy FLL for the day but we don't have to leave so early and the return is 11:50 AM instead of 4:05 so we won't have to sit in the airport all day. I feel comfortable with an 11:50 AM flight since the airport is so close to the port. Both times we have sailed from FLL we were at the airport real early on debarkation day.

 

Just wanted to say I will be joining you all on this cruise!

 

Welcome aboard minniem64! Are you booked with the group? Even if you aren't you are still welcome to chat here and join us for meet and mingles on board or any other activities. Tell us about yourself. I hope you'll post here often. We are a chatty group.

 

Cat -glad your hubby is feeling better.

 

Sue - glad your Ducks won. Illinois isn't doing so well this year.

 

Renee - I'll check out your store website.

 

Rick - Keep up the good work on the backpacks

 

I work tonight. It's going to be a long night and we start new menu's tomorrow so I'll have to change them all out tonight before I go home. I hate Sunday's because the shift is so long but I have requested the next 2 Sundays off. Next Sunday is my nephew's son's 6th birthday party and the following Sunday is a 5K race that Staci's sorority is sponsoring. We will take the dog and walk it.

 

Have a great day. :)

[Cruisin Dave]

Just wanted to say I will be joining you all on this cruise!

 

Welcome to the Cupids!

Dave