Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[jagsfan]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I'm half joking about our June Gloom experience, although it did put a damper on our plans.  If that's the worst of your weather, and it never gets too hot/humid, you really do live in a great place.  NE Florida has a little more "seasons".  It gets in the 90s with high humidity in the summer and often into the 40s (or as Mimi noted, even into the 20s on occasion) during the winter.  We chose this location partly because we (or more accurately Micheline) still wanted a little bit of seasonal change.  The only real weather requirements were no snow and the ability to play golf year round. 😁

And you have plenty of golf courses within easy driving distance!

[dani negreanu]

6 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

count your cats

 

You have a way with words.... When "counting", I'll keep this in mind. Chapeau 😁

[Arzeena]

4 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

You have a way with words.... When "counting", I'll keep this in mind. Chapeau 😁

I was trying to make Debbie smile.😁

[dani negreanu]

3 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

I was trying to make Debbie smile.😁

 

And you succeeded -- You hit 2 "birds" with... 2 cats 😁 I can't stop smiling 😎

[Luckynana]

52 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Sorry to hear Hoda and Joel broke-up.    I have always enjoyed Hoda and was so happy for her when she adopted.    

.    

I don't always watch the show, but had it on and thought Hoda looked sad, or that she wasn't feeling well.  I've always loved Hoda, and she always radiated happiness;  especially with her daughters.  How sad for Hoda and the girls.

[Sunshine3601]

25 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

how old is this MIL and does she have any "issues" or is she just a naturally cranky cantankerous woman?

She is 91 yrs old and has always been a horrible person.     Eric and his Brother have some truly horrible childhood memories of their Mother.    99.9% of family no longer speaks with her.    Her neighbors rarely speak with her.     I have not been to her house since Thankgiving 2020 when she was extremely nasty to me and Eric told her she is to never call me again for anything.

One thing that Eric has always hated about his Mother is her non stop lying.    

Eric has no idea how his Father survived living with her for as many years as he did.      Eric and his Brother always asked their Dad about retiring and he never did.    He worked non stop into his 80's probably because he didn't want to be home with her.   He passed away from colon / stomach cancer about 10 years ago.  

Healthwise she will tell you she has every ailment in the book or whatever she watched on a TV show but overall she is in good health.    Mind may be going a little but hard to say since I don't see her or drive her around for errands or appointments anymore.   

[Sunshine3601]

8 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

I don't always watch the show, but had it on and thought Hoda looked sad, or that she wasn't feeling well.  I've always loved Hoda, and she always radiated happiness;  especially with her daughters.  How sad for Hoda and the girls.

I agree she does radiate happiness🤩

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Thank you.    I worry more about Eric's BP.    When we got home last night after dropping her off at hotel, he sat down and checked his BP it was 211 over 115.    He immediately took an extra BP pill and was down to 140/80 when we got ready for bed.    

I never had a BP problem until Jan.2021.One afternoon I was burning up and took my BP .It was 200/110.I called my primary care doctor ,she was gone for the day.I called my Cardiologist and he too was gone.Toby drove me to the local hospital ER.It took 6 hours till they got it down to 147/57.They sent me home and urged me to see a doctor the next day.I am currently on 3 pills a day.

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, BonTexasNY said:

Stay safe!

We have a Winter Storm Watch from Wed 6pm to Thurs. 6pm.  The ice is coming!  Hard to believe it's 71 now.

I am so sorry you and Eric have to go through that aggravation.  That bp is very worrisome but thankfully, Eric knew what to do.

 

I agree about your cats being a blessing!  It's one thing to deal with your MIL unsuccessfully in her own home, but to have her on your home turf would do you and Eric in terribly!!

 

And please never apologize if you need to vent.  You're among understanding friends here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks,Bonnie.I hope you do not get a bad ice storm.

[MJSailors]

@Sunshine3601

       I read about the situation with your MIL. Very difficult for sure.

However, you and your hubby have to watch out for yourselves even though you care what happens to his Mom.

       I dealt with a difficult MIL for years and then I found a way not to get upset with her. I kind of went into a zone as if I was an unbiased third party such as a Social Worker while dealing with her issues. This allowed me to focus on the situation at hand and not deal with her emotional manipulation while my husband and I were trying to help her.

           It helped us to stay calm when we could deal with her in an unemotional way as an outsider while helping her as her son and daughter-in-law. 

I hope this helps as someone who has been there.

 

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Ozark_Kid said:

Texas sounds like they react to the possibility of snow/ice like they do in Arkansas.  A friend of mine ran the bakery that supplies most of the local bread.  I remember him telling me how crazy it gets a few days out before a potential snow.  

 

People freak out here too. Grocery stores have been packed for 3 days straight.

 

 

58 minutes ago, Luckynana said:

 

You may be in for a good surprise!

😢

 

Thanks I am now inclined to at least have them file it with my insurance.

 

[LGW59]

17 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

She is 91 yrs old and has always been a horrible person.     Eric and his Brother have some truly horrible childhood memories of their Mother.    99.9% of family no longer speaks with her.    Her neighbors rarely speak with her.     I have not been to her house since Thankgiving 2020 when she was extremely nasty to me and Eric told her she is to never call me again for anything.

One thing that Eric has always hated about his Mother is her non stop lying.    

Eric has no idea how his Father survived living with her for as many years as he did.      Eric and his Brother always asked their Dad about retiring and he never did.    He worked non stop into his 80's probably because he didn't want to be home with her.   He passed away from colon / stomach cancer about 10 years ago.  

Healthwise she will tell you she has every ailment in the book or whatever she watched on a TV show but overall she is in good health.    Mind may be going a little but hard to say since I don't see her or drive her around for errands or appointments anymore.   

I am sorry that you and your family have to deal with a situation like this, no doubt it is very challenging!    

 

I was so blessed with a mom who aged in such a dignified manner (as if one always has that choice), but just the same as she lived her life.  6 children, widowed in her mid 30's, buried a 5 year old boy, NEVER complained, heart transplant at 56 years old, blessed with another 21 years of life after.  Passed rather quickly after 3 months of cancer diagnosis, as a result of anti-rejection meds, which can cause cancer in many transplant patients.  She passed peacefully and calmly, the same manner in which she lived her life. 

[Sea Dog]

Tonight is a great night to be retired! As the Kansas City area is preparing for "snowmageddon" (6"-8" which I consider as nothing) normally I would  go to bed early to be at work at 3:30am for live shots. I've always thought seeing a reporter/photographer out by the side of a highway in the freezing cold telling people to not go out and drive was ridiculous. I can't tell you the number of times I almost got frostbite doing live hits. Now I will sleep in (if the puppies allow it) and watch the nice snowfall from the comfort of my house. Life is good !

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Thank you.    I worry more about Eric's BP.    When we got home last night after dropping her off at hotel, he sat down and checked his BP it was 211 over 115.    He immediately took an extra BP pill and was down to 140/80 when we got ready for bed.    

Glad that the extra pill helped.

[ReneeFLL]

On 1/31/2022 at 11:58 AM, DaniDanielle said:

We made it home in one piece!!!

Happy to hear that. I would have been sicker than a dog with those seas. 

[aussielozzie18]

@Lenny - sounds like you have a lovely community in your Condo.

@dani negreanu yes blue ringed octopus are pretty to look at but small and highly venomous.  Usually found in rock pools at the beach. Used to see them often when we were kids  looking for shells & crabs in the rockpools at low-tide.   We were taught at a young age not to touch and definitely don’t pick them up. Don’t know of anyone who has been stung by one and thankfully fatalities are rare.

[ReneeFLL]

Opps, duplicate.

Edited February 2, 2022 by ReneeFLL

[Coralc]

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by Coralc

[lenquixote66]

17 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

@Lenny - sounds like you have a lovely community in your Condo.

@dani negreanu yes blue ringed octopus are pretty to look at but small and highly venomous.  Usually found in rock pools at the beach. Used to see them often when we were kids  looking for shells & crabs in the rockpools at low-tide.   We were taught at a young age not to touch and definitely don’t pick them up. Don’t know of anyone who has been stung by one and thankfully fatalities are rare.

We have very nice people and wonderful amenities 😀

[ReneeFLL]

My first drink for this cruise was for sail away in Cozumel. I will definitely be making up for it.

 

Already working on it in the Champagne Bar.  Chocolate Martini. 😁

 

[Sheal]

35 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

I kind of went into a zone as if I was an unbiased third party such as a Social Worker while dealing with her issues.

Good advice.  My mother is extremely stubborn and my sister and I had to fly down there mid December when her neighbor thought she might have Covid and could use some help.  Fearing the worst, like social services getting involved, I convinced my sister that we needed to go sooner rather than later.  My mother has been planning to move back to RI.  Things got very heated at times and I tried very hard just to try to stick to the task at hand, "packing", and not thinking how selfish she is with her "I'm just fine down here" attitude, when, if you looked around, you could plainly see how she is not.  As hard as I tried, I still lost it and told her how selfish she was, keeping a large number of dogs, when she could barely take care of herself.  The kicker was that she seems to think the neighbor is just fine with taking care of the dogs when she lands in the hospital due to yet another fall.  

 

This weekend, my sister called me on Sunday to tell me that she had been calling my mother and it kept going to voice mail.  I ended up texting the kind neighbor who stopped by to check on her.  The neighbor then sent me  a text telling me for the "most part" she was fine.  Apparently she had fallen again.  My mother called to find out why I had the neighbor check in.  After telling her we had called all weekend she told me it must be our "phones".  Her phone had no messages.  She never mentioned the fall, I'm going to leave that for my sister to work into the conversation.  She thinks we are making a big deal out of nothing.  Telling her that she could end up in a nursing home and losing all of the dogs is just us trying to upset her.  She has always been self centered and will never change.

 

Rant over! 

 

 

 

 

[Sheal]

18 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Chocolate Martini. 😁

Yum.  Between those and the expresso martinis I am in heaven.  Stomach, not so much!

[jagsfan]

4 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Better weather than NY,Mimi.😀

I’ll try to remember that when my steering wheel is 180 degrees in August!

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, Arzeena said:

I was trying to make Debbie smile.😁

You did just that.  Thank you for your kind heartfelt words💕   Eric is easily stressed and agitated I rarely let her get to me.  She is what she is and I usually just roll with it.

On a happy note, we booked a new cruise for May 19th.    8 nighter out of Baltimore to Bermuda, CocoCay and Nassau.  We have never sailed on Enchantment so figure we'll give her a try.   

We will probably do a pre or post cruise stay in Baltimore and catch up with some good friends that live in Va and go enjoy some hard shell crabs.

[jagsfan]

3 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Who would have thought we would be discussing hangers, , but here goes. 
 

For my tux, I use one of these that have a wooden rod and metal rod to keep the pants secure.  It then holds the vest, jacket, cummerbund, and ties, and they all go in the tux lightweight garment bag that make up the bottom layer for the method that Mimi described. 
 

 

My tux shirts go in next in the opposite direction, and they are on theses type of plastic hangers. They are light weight and have rubber inserts that keep things from sliding. 
 

 

For Susan’s gowns and dresses that have straps, I use this kind. They have a section that holds the straps in place.  Her gowns are draped in the 3rd direction described by Mimi. 
 

 

And finally, we sometimes use this style, depending on what the garment may be. Usually, we will use the ones in the second photo, because they are less bulky. 
 

 

I didn’t take a photo of the last type that we use for pants.  Essentially, they are the type that have clips so you can hang pants by the cuffs.  
 

Using the plastic bags is one of the keys to doing this.  Give it a try next time.  I always check the weight with my portable scale, but I am good at estimating the weights now.  Each of our bags usually come in between 40 and 44 pounds. 

 

 

 

The extra weight in my luggage used to be from books. Thanks to my Kindle I don’t have that problem, but my traveling medicine cabinet takes up space and adds weight. 
Dick brags about not packing as much as I do, but who does he come to for Tums, NyQuil, DayQuil, Bandaids, sunscreen, etc.?