Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Vacation Part II

Saturday morning we get up and head to the gym. Husband and I have a pretty good workout. I thought to myself that this was a good start to continuing some sort of workout on the boat. You will find no mention of exercise in any parts of this saga. So that didn't carry on like I had hoped.

The group caught a bus to the boat and after a bit of confusion as to where to park we finally made it. We got our magic money cards (room key and you can charge anything to your room instead of carrying cash or another credit card) and got through all the other check points OK. Finally we were on the ship.

First thing we did was to find our room. We were next to couple #3. It was us, #3, #5, and #2. Couple 1 was a floor below us as they got a mini-suite. The next item was eating. When on a cruise food is available pretty much 24/7. For some reason we ate all the time. Even when we weren't really hungry. The food was pretty good though.

We were able to open the doors of our balconies so we could walk through to all the other balconies in our group. All of us were outside chatting for the most part. Couple #1 came up and all 5 couples were hanging out. The women were discussing spa treatments. Everyone wanted to get at least 1 thing done. I had gotten my hair cut/colored, a facial and a massage before we left. The cost of these on the ship were almost double what we pay here. I didn't want to spend that much money. At one point I made the comment that we probably weren't going to do any spa treatments. I see this was a mistake now. Anyway, I started to unpack and hang things up when I realized all 4 girls had gone to the spa. I felt very left out. Even though I wasn't going to sign up for anything, I would have liked to have been included. At this point I wasn't sure this had been a good idea. I worried that the whole trip would be like this. Everyone would go and find wonderful things to do and I would be left out. As I finished unpacking I finally let this go. I kept telling myself that I would have fun regardless of what everyone else did. This worked pretty well for me.

So we were on our way. The first few days were at sea so we explored the ship, sat in the hot tub, and played card and board games. Oh yeah, and we ate constantly. The meals at night were very good and you could get as many items as you wanted. We saw a comedian that was almost funny. I think his show was more adult and there were kids in the audience so he might have held back a little. We also saw a hypnotist. He was very entertaining.

At times we could see the coastline of Mexico on our way. The first stop was Puerto Vallarta and that was the most southern stop we made. I'll pick up with that next.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Vacation Part I

Our first vacation since before getting pregnant. Woo hoo. We went on a cruise to Mexico. I was so excited to go on this vacation, but didn't want to say too much out loud. What if something happened. A few days before leaving Peanut got several red bumps on his body. Turned out to be nothing, but my fear was chicken pox. Ugh. Peanut went to stay with his aunt and had a good time as I knew he would.

We started off on Friday morning. First we took the dogs to the vet for boarding, then to the bank and Target. Then we stopped at Burger King for breakfast before heading to the airport. We parked and rode the little shuttle to the airport where we met two other couples that were going with us. Did you know there is a weight limit on baggage? We did not know this until bag number 3 weighed 5 lbs. over. You can pay $25 or switch some stuff to another bag. So I moved a couple shoes and a pair of jeans to a different suitcase. The bags passed and we were on our way. The flight was OK. For some reason the plane got jumpy right when I had to use the bathroom. I got in there and we hit some turbulence. Of course it was gone after I was done and on my way to my seat.

We took a bus from the airport to the hotel. It was a nice hotel and we had a good view of the pool area. We met our friends in the lobby and headed to the hotel restaurant for lunch. L.A. is different. The menu said "club sandwich with a twist". I thought maybe it had sushi or something on it, but the server said it was long way like a sub instead of cut into squares like normal. OK. It was cut into 4 sections and then stacked up and held together with a very long toothpick. It was still a club sandwich. Not sure really what the twist was supposed to be.

We all took the bus to Santa Monica that night. We walked along the pier and through the promenade. There were 4 couples total all walking around. Couple 1 (KH) was hungry since they got in later than us and didn't eat at the hotel. So we found a bar and grill type place and they ate, while the rest of us had drinks. Then we walked more. Couple 2 (JA) left to visit a cousin. Later couple 3 (RK) was hungry so we stopped for sushi. They ate and the rest of us had more to drink. Then we caught the bus back to the hotel and we (couple 4) were hungry again. We went to the sports bar in the hotel and had desert, while the rest had more drinks. It was like a 4 course meal spread out over 4 restaurants. It was fun. Then off to bed.

More later.

Friday, February 23, 2007

It's Just Not Right

In the last several weeks I've seen it happen too many times. Parents that yell from the sidelines instead of getting close and helping their children. Or they yell at the slightly older sibling to take care of the younger one. I'll give you an example.

We were at the beach in Puerto Vallarta. The area we were at had a short beach so playing meant either being in the sand or fairly deep water. There were two little girls holding hands and playing. One looked to be 2 and the other maybe 4. I am terrible at guessing ages, but the younger one didn't talk much, but could walk well. So they are playing and they get kind of close to the water and go in a bit. The father yells from about 20 feet away for them to get back to the sand. He's not moving toward them, he's just yelling. So finally, he walks over to them and starts yelling at the older girl that she has to watch out for the younger one. He tells her that she can't swim and the tide would just take her away and she would be gone. She was 4. This man expected a 4 yr old to care for a smaller child. I don't trust adults to care for my 16 month old how can he put that on a 4 yr old's shoulders. I was disgusted.

Later on we were walking in the area of the girls playing and they got in pretty far. The mom was nearby with a drink in her hand not really paying attention. The dad started yelling again from the shore. My husband ran over and grabbed one of them and pulled them back to shore. The mom finally decided her child was worth saving and grabbed the other one. Of course the dad started yelling about how they shouldn't be in the water. WTF? Husband and I agreed that the kids were probably not in any danger as they were not in too deep, but he said the kid he grabbed looked pretty scared just the same.

If your child was almost swept away by the tide, wouldn't you go sprinting after them? Well, most of us would be close to them in the first place, but still go with me here. So after you got them, wouldn't you hold them close and be happy to have them in your arms? Wouldn't your first thought be 'thank you'? Wouldn't you then tell them that they scared mommy and daddy and they need to stay in the safe area?

I've seen lots more just like this. Absent parenting. You don't have to be paranoid, but at least try to participate.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Babble Baby, Babble.

Peanut babbles. He will not stop. I understand every 100th word or so, but it's all just sound to me. There must be stories and questions and general narration, but it's all lost on me.

He's starting to talk though. Once in a while he will repeat one of the last words you say.

Me: "Get your shoes".
Peanut: "oooooooes".

We have two sign language videos and we were watching the second one the other night. He repeated almost all the words. He did the signs a little too, but mostly just said the word.

One of my favorites now is 'baby'. He learned the 'eee' sound not long ago and instead of ba ba or ma ma, he can now say baby and mommy. It's music to my ears. He has this little voice. Sometimes I expect to hear a man voice since he is so big, but this little toddler boy voice comes out and it's too cute.

Sometimes I really hate that he is growing up, but mostly I think it's awesome to watch him grow and learn. He does so much for himself now. He can walk and communicate a little. He knows things. He isn't just a blob on the rug anymore (though that stage was wonderful and I have very fond memories of it).

Words he seems to know.
Car, dog, baby, Mommy, ma ma, da da, daddy, pa-pop (grandpa), nana/banana, oat (coat), ooes (shoes), ee (teeth), and t (tv). That's all I can think of, but he'll repeat other things. These seem to be more regular though.

She Kicked My Bum and I Paid Her

I signed up with a personal trainer. Yah, yah yah. I used to be one. So what? I have no motivation anymore. So to help me on my quest to a more healthy me I've hired help. Since we belong to the local YMCA I got one there. It seems expensive, but per session it's pretty cheap compared to other places in town. The whole process of signing up sort of rubbed me the wrong way. This was all a couple weeks ago.

The Y was having a sale on personal training. If you signed up by a certain date you got 10% off. So I figure that's a good time to do it. I called on a Friday (1/26) and the girl was helpful and got me signed up and paid for. She takes the information (what time I want, male/female) and then sends that to the personal trainer director. Then the director is supposed to match me with a trainer and the trainer calls me to set up the appointment. Clear? Fabulous. Normally, this process takes 1-2 days at most.

So I waited. By Tuesday (1/30) I was starting to wonder. So I called and was told the director was on vacation. OK. Who is covering her job? No one. Apparently, she is the only person that does her job. I left a voice mail for her hoping someone might call me back. The next day (1/31) a very inept guy called me and asked me what time I wanted and did I prefer a male or female trainer. I gave my info. again. He said he would find someone and they would call me soon. He also said he would call me on Friday to follow up.

Friday (2/2) comes along and no one has called. Not even the inept guy. I'm starting to think this whole process is some sort of sham. Finally on Saturday (2/3) afternoon inept guy calls me and leaves a message. I tried to call back and got nothing. Apparently he disappeared 5 minutes after calling me.

So now it's been over a week. The director girl is supposed to be back from vacation and I am still in my funk. So on about Tuesday (2/6) she leaves me a voice mail. "Just wanted to make sure a trainer called and you're doing fine". Uhhhm. No. So I call back and finally reach her. She takes my information (AGAIN!) and says she'll have some one call me. I'm not really believing her, but what have I got to lose. Certainly not any flab. I mean at this point I kind of doubt I'll ever see a trainer. Well. Low and behold a trainer calls me the next day (2/7). She sounds nice, but isn't all that excited about the time I wanted. So we make an appointment for 1:00 Tuesday (2/20), two days after we get back from our vacation.

Originally I wanted the appointments to be on Tuesday and Thursday because those are days Peanut is not at daycare. This would be good because he can go to the nursery there and get a different play time, plus it leaves my daycare days free.

Anyway, I pushed the appt. back an hour due to Peanut napping. She can't do anything later than a 2:00 appt. and that seemed pretty close to the end of nap time. I didn't want to have to wake him up to go to the Y. Really I wanted a 3:00 appt. She couldn't do that. So we moved it to Mon. & Wed. at 10. So now on every day off I go to the Y. It's OK, but it also kind of irks me. When I told everyone my schedule I asked for late afternoon in the 2-4 time frame. Now I don't have that. If I was more pushy I would have just asked for a new trainer. I felt sort of stuck with her so I tried to just make it work. Now I kind of wish I would have spoken up. Do I call and try to change? I've had one session and like her OK, but the time just doesn't jive well for me.

Anyway, I finally went to the Y yesterday and met the trainer "J". She is nice, but a little older than I expected. She kicked my butt though. Lunges, squats, thighs, hamstrings, butt and so much more. Every inch of me hurts today. I can barely walk.