Yesterday I started my own Battle of the Bulge. No not a World War II slug it out battle with the Axis powers rather a slug it out battle with my waist or is that waste line.
We have just over 8 months till we board a plane to the tropics again and today the only being I would be able to swim with might be Shamu! Rob has gotten a bit round in the middle. So here is what I am doing about it. I am cheating!! Have successfully lost some serious weight in the past….well, it took years for it to come back but I did lose it!
I always have an issue with the start of my change of eating habits and exercise. Seems the first three weeks nothing comes off no matter how hungry I keep myself and how much I run, jog, walk or even lift. So this time I am cheating a bit. I have gotten one of the over the counter appetite suppressants. It is in many of the fitness magazines and have even seen ads for it on air. Point being it is a booster shot to start. They recommend 8 weeks on their product along with exercise and diet. What the heck if I can get an extra 5 lbs at the start it is worth it to me.
Daily I am drinking about 120oz of water…10 glasses. Started on 9 Feb with some exercise and will get in at least 3 days a week and try to get on the treadmill daily. Guess if I get on the treadmill before I log on to my computer or turn on the tv that might motivate me a bit. The appetite suppressant has so far worked, I am not hungry much at all however there is a bit of side affect. I wont be getting much sleep. Woke at 430 this morning. If this happens tomorrow morning, I may just go and get on the treadmill and knock that out earlier in the day. Now eating habits have to change, I need to cut out sugar and most starches and eat veggies (yuck) and lean meat with a bit of whole grain to supplement. My weaknesses are sugar and starch….so no fun for Rob on this one. Goal is at least 40 lbs by fall. Hoping for a loss closer to 50 lbs. Yes I certainly have 50 to shed.
If you do read the blog and you are around me in the next probably 4 weeks…then please cut me a bit of slack cause I am sure I wont be the most pleasant of people as I get accustomed to my new eating lifestyle. The reward for me is not only cosmetic but I do have a family history of diabetes and heart conditions so carrying an extra 50 lbs is not doing me any favors at all.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Travel tip we picked up from a friend
This weekend we visited with some friends that frequent ST Maarten too. In fact his brother owns Halsey’s a very good restaurant in the Simpson Bay area. We met them for dinner and drinks. While talking about the island we moved to “who do you use to book your airfare”. He shared that he built his own profile for flights to SXM via Chicago. I told him that Chicago O’Hare is one of my least favorite airports. Actually it is not so much the airport but rather where the city is located and the time of year that we travel.
We normally head to the islands as you may have read….in April/May or November. Both being months in the midst of seasonal changes in that part of the country…can end up with pretty ugly weather from wind ( it is the windy city you know) to big thunderstorms and even that ugly snow and ice. Ok have digressed enough.
My friend John shared that they use Travelocity and via their profile have set price points and get email when the fares drop to or below those points. So guess what Rob did then next morning…yup you guessed it. Logged on and went directly to Travelocity.com to set up our profile. I set up three…woo hoo. KC to SXM Chicago to SXM and my favorite, Dallas to SXM. We can get to both big D and the windy city pretty cheaply so I set all three up. Sure enough this morning Travelocity sent me an email alert. Fares from Chicago at $269 + taxes. Much better than I have ever gotten them. We have been to the island several times and never for less than $600 and that was without the expense of room in NYC or Charlotte for an overnight layover.
Ok, so I wont pull the trigger today, but here is to hoping that with fare price fluctuation I hit it again on a day in which it makes it worth my while.
We normally head to the islands as you may have read….in April/May or November. Both being months in the midst of seasonal changes in that part of the country…can end up with pretty ugly weather from wind ( it is the windy city you know) to big thunderstorms and even that ugly snow and ice. Ok have digressed enough.
My friend John shared that they use Travelocity and via their profile have set price points and get email when the fares drop to or below those points. So guess what Rob did then next morning…yup you guessed it. Logged on and went directly to Travelocity.com to set up our profile. I set up three…woo hoo. KC to SXM Chicago to SXM and my favorite, Dallas to SXM. We can get to both big D and the windy city pretty cheaply so I set all three up. Sure enough this morning Travelocity sent me an email alert. Fares from Chicago at $269 + taxes. Much better than I have ever gotten them. We have been to the island several times and never for less than $600 and that was without the expense of room in NYC or Charlotte for an overnight layover.
Ok, so I wont pull the trigger today, but here is to hoping that with fare price fluctuation I hit it again on a day in which it makes it worth my while.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Been a while this is a long one!
Hi all or maybe the one or two that read my blog.
It has been a long, long time since I have blogged. Made it thru the holiday season though we are probably one of 4 families left in the US with their tree still up. We went from holidays to the cold, flu and repertory distress season. Seem to be just surfacing from that so now we can look forward to the more positive.
The bride and I have been in discussion about our yearly trip to the islands. By now we usually are paying for our fake bake tans to prepare us for out April trip. This alone sometimes gets us thru the end of January and all of February before the longest and to me worst month of the year MARCH.
Tangent…..why Rob doesn’t like March. I don’t like March for many reasons. In the planes states the weather goes crazy….snow, sleet, ice, hail thunder storms return ….strong winds and 50 degree temp swings are just a few of the crazy weather issues. Oh yeah 31 calendar days of this mess with no vacation days involved. It usually is the month we are trying to get thru so we can head to the islands too so I pretty much am not a big lover of March. Now for the good parts of March….march Madness, the ST Pattys Day beer tour at Old Chicago and at least a day or two where Rob and a few others can wear shorts outside without freezing your proverbial backside off. That’s about it!!! Tangent over….
On a 3 hour car trip that the two of us recently were on we discussed great things like the economy and our jobs as we both are working for a company that is going thru a merger. This led us to the decision that we both simply despise. Time to postpone our trip….Noooooo. As of today I have officially been given back my shoe laces and even belt and hear rumors that the Rob suicide watch may be cancelled. (ok folks I know that wasn’t in the best of taste but I do try to add a bit of humor in my posts).
We have settled on the month of our return to the island but still need to pick out a week.
That is being hampered by our fantabulous new timeshare company…seems that they think a 40% increase in fees annually isn’t much of an issue and of course they are due the same time our car tags, Christmas and worst yet property taxes on the house are due, so bet you cant guess who gets the last check!!!! And on another sad point, the money tree that we planted in the back yard has either gone dormant or gulp..died! So the timeshare will just have to wait their turn cause we settled on a new plan in September…no more credit card usage. This means we will use what we have at hand and spending will come from our debit card for major purchases like airline tickets. Ok, that was tangent #2, back to regularly discombobulated ramblings.
So we know we will be going back to the island in November. Have been there before in Nov and though a bit wetter than in April, the water is warm and everything was very green so we have tentative dates set…at least in our heads for Nov. Woo hoo now I know that previously discussed watch has been cancelled.
So here comes the lists……
1. we want to bring at least one couple with us….but who
2. pay timeshare fees no matter how exorbitant they may be
3. book room
4. watch flights
5. see what friends will be on island (this will lead to decision making on activities we will do during our visit)
6. my small (ok at this point microscopically small) business is off the ground so will be time to see where we can get some of my items in some of the boutiques’ there on island
7. prepare samples for island visit
There will be more listing I am sure. I do go out of turn on my list as I will as you know from previous posts follow airfare between Feb and probably summer time when I will eventually pull the trigger.
My resolution to my blog….I will post more frequently than once a month ……ciao!!!
It has been a long, long time since I have blogged. Made it thru the holiday season though we are probably one of 4 families left in the US with their tree still up. We went from holidays to the cold, flu and repertory distress season. Seem to be just surfacing from that so now we can look forward to the more positive.
The bride and I have been in discussion about our yearly trip to the islands. By now we usually are paying for our fake bake tans to prepare us for out April trip. This alone sometimes gets us thru the end of January and all of February before the longest and to me worst month of the year MARCH.
Tangent…..why Rob doesn’t like March. I don’t like March for many reasons. In the planes states the weather goes crazy….snow, sleet, ice, hail thunder storms return ….strong winds and 50 degree temp swings are just a few of the crazy weather issues. Oh yeah 31 calendar days of this mess with no vacation days involved. It usually is the month we are trying to get thru so we can head to the islands too so I pretty much am not a big lover of March. Now for the good parts of March….march Madness, the ST Pattys Day beer tour at Old Chicago and at least a day or two where Rob and a few others can wear shorts outside without freezing your proverbial backside off. That’s about it!!! Tangent over….
On a 3 hour car trip that the two of us recently were on we discussed great things like the economy and our jobs as we both are working for a company that is going thru a merger. This led us to the decision that we both simply despise. Time to postpone our trip….Noooooo. As of today I have officially been given back my shoe laces and even belt and hear rumors that the Rob suicide watch may be cancelled. (ok folks I know that wasn’t in the best of taste but I do try to add a bit of humor in my posts).
We have settled on the month of our return to the island but still need to pick out a week.
That is being hampered by our fantabulous new timeshare company…seems that they think a 40% increase in fees annually isn’t much of an issue and of course they are due the same time our car tags, Christmas and worst yet property taxes on the house are due, so bet you cant guess who gets the last check!!!! And on another sad point, the money tree that we planted in the back yard has either gone dormant or gulp..died! So the timeshare will just have to wait their turn cause we settled on a new plan in September…no more credit card usage. This means we will use what we have at hand and spending will come from our debit card for major purchases like airline tickets. Ok, that was tangent #2, back to regularly discombobulated ramblings.
So we know we will be going back to the island in November. Have been there before in Nov and though a bit wetter than in April, the water is warm and everything was very green so we have tentative dates set…at least in our heads for Nov. Woo hoo now I know that previously discussed watch has been cancelled.
So here comes the lists……
1. we want to bring at least one couple with us….but who
2. pay timeshare fees no matter how exorbitant they may be
3. book room
4. watch flights
5. see what friends will be on island (this will lead to decision making on activities we will do during our visit)
6. my small (ok at this point microscopically small) business is off the ground so will be time to see where we can get some of my items in some of the boutiques’ there on island
7. prepare samples for island visit
There will be more listing I am sure. I do go out of turn on my list as I will as you know from previous posts follow airfare between Feb and probably summer time when I will eventually pull the trigger.
My resolution to my blog….I will post more frequently than once a month ……ciao!!!
Monday, December 15, 2008
I don’t care what the calendar says!!
I know the official start of winter is 6 days away but when we woke up yesterday it was 60 degrees, when we went to bed there was half an inch of sleet and snow and the temp was single digit. It is now lunch time the following day and is a balmy 4 degrees today.
This is February weather, not December! It is officially winter here..GRRRRRR
Now the Caribbean jonesing really starts. Rob and Mary don’t have an official trip booked and planned yet but trust me about two more days of this cold crap and I will be trying to figure the cost of a 200+ pound package to ST Maarten via UPS….will of course have to be an overnighter…probably as much as a freaking plane ticket…..
Speaking of plane tickets, a few short months ago a ticket to our beloved SXM was in the range of 1400 a person. No I am not calculating this in Yen but in good ole devalued US Dollars. Last week I was looking on line and the same tickets were 540 each….much better. We are used to 550 to 700 rt per person. This is however the holiday and tax season for us and we are like many in America, at this point we are refusing to use credit cards so I will have to wait to buy our tickets for a while.
I think we are going to ask a couple of other couples if they would like to go the same time we do. It is fun to travel with others. While on island, it is go and do what you want as we will be doing the same but traveling to the island is so much fun when planning together. We will see how it goes, if they say they would like to go or not.
This is February weather, not December! It is officially winter here..GRRRRRR
Now the Caribbean jonesing really starts. Rob and Mary don’t have an official trip booked and planned yet but trust me about two more days of this cold crap and I will be trying to figure the cost of a 200+ pound package to ST Maarten via UPS….will of course have to be an overnighter…probably as much as a freaking plane ticket…..
Speaking of plane tickets, a few short months ago a ticket to our beloved SXM was in the range of 1400 a person. No I am not calculating this in Yen but in good ole devalued US Dollars. Last week I was looking on line and the same tickets were 540 each….much better. We are used to 550 to 700 rt per person. This is however the holiday and tax season for us and we are like many in America, at this point we are refusing to use credit cards so I will have to wait to buy our tickets for a while.
I think we are going to ask a couple of other couples if they would like to go the same time we do. It is fun to travel with others. While on island, it is go and do what you want as we will be doing the same but traveling to the island is so much fun when planning together. We will see how it goes, if they say they would like to go or not.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Bitching, Moaning and Complaints
Hi all, Been falling down on my blog a bit.
Guess when there isn’t much nice to say we shouldn’t say much at all.
Complaints…
Is the holiday season again, so many folks get geared up and all excited…Rob gets the blues. I think it is more seasonal affective stuff as in….less sun, no warm weather and a huge outlay of money from November thru January. We have same things others do…car tags, house taxes and they holidays, then comes the thing I am most steamed about this year. The dreaded (yes, we did it to ourselves) Timeshare maintenance fees.
When we purchased our timeshare 10 years ago it was pretty reasonable…as in under $500 for dues, fees and what ever else. During that time we have twice “upgraded” Ha!!
Now we still are paying off the timeshare and our fees have seriously almost tripled in the last 3 years. Doesn’t help that the TS company is now owned by a different company that wants to compete with the likes of Hilton but can only do that by hammering those who own currently.
My two cents worth…….what ever you do….DO NOT BUY TIMESHARE!!!!!!!!
Lesson learned, Don’t get me wrong we love the place we stay and enjoy going there and yes do use it each year but OUCH….am not a rocket scientist….the price of staying and yes we fly from KC to the Caribbean, is as much as two round trip tickets to the island of ST Maarten. What we pay to pay off our loan will more than pay for a nice hotel or maybe even a small villa on island….leaving me with the same out of pocket…BEFORE I have purchased the tickets now. Rob has learned an expensive lesson.
Ok now for the good…
We will be hanging out with some friends tonight that frequent the island as well. We will be talking about going back in most likely May of 09. This couple is fun and like us self sufficient while on island so we can all cut loose and have our own great time and hook up for a day or so and probably a couple of dinners. We are also working on seeing if another couple may be interested as well. More to come on this but it does look like we will be heading towards the tropics late this spring….
Guess when there isn’t much nice to say we shouldn’t say much at all.
Complaints…
Is the holiday season again, so many folks get geared up and all excited…Rob gets the blues. I think it is more seasonal affective stuff as in….less sun, no warm weather and a huge outlay of money from November thru January. We have same things others do…car tags, house taxes and they holidays, then comes the thing I am most steamed about this year. The dreaded (yes, we did it to ourselves) Timeshare maintenance fees.
When we purchased our timeshare 10 years ago it was pretty reasonable…as in under $500 for dues, fees and what ever else. During that time we have twice “upgraded” Ha!!
Now we still are paying off the timeshare and our fees have seriously almost tripled in the last 3 years. Doesn’t help that the TS company is now owned by a different company that wants to compete with the likes of Hilton but can only do that by hammering those who own currently.
My two cents worth…….what ever you do….DO NOT BUY TIMESHARE!!!!!!!!
Lesson learned, Don’t get me wrong we love the place we stay and enjoy going there and yes do use it each year but OUCH….am not a rocket scientist….the price of staying and yes we fly from KC to the Caribbean, is as much as two round trip tickets to the island of ST Maarten. What we pay to pay off our loan will more than pay for a nice hotel or maybe even a small villa on island….leaving me with the same out of pocket…BEFORE I have purchased the tickets now. Rob has learned an expensive lesson.
Ok now for the good…
We will be hanging out with some friends tonight that frequent the island as well. We will be talking about going back in most likely May of 09. This couple is fun and like us self sufficient while on island so we can all cut loose and have our own great time and hook up for a day or so and probably a couple of dinners. We are also working on seeing if another couple may be interested as well. More to come on this but it does look like we will be heading towards the tropics late this spring….
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Is the HMS Antilles Treasures the new Flying Dutchman?
Doubt it!!
We had our third annual Pirates and Wenches party last Saturday evening.
It was fun but ye ole cap’n felt like at the end of the party that the ship had been scuttled and sunk, now lying on some un mapped reef.
If it is to reemerge from the depths of Davey Jones’s locker for a fourth year, at this point the cap’n would be totally shocked.
No the party wasn’t bad but like the trilogy of Pirates of the Caribbean movies…this one may have played out ….run aground. We had a good time with only a few minor incidents but what party that is based on costumes and booze doesn’t have a hiccup or two? Some of our regular crew attended and some of them were shanghaied. We had some new visitors too and I think for the most part they had a pretty good time. I will soon be posting a real story and pix of the party on line at my website.
Now on to the next adventure….time to start thinking about our return to the islands. This time it will be a bit more business. I have been fortunate enough to place some of my pictures in one of the shoppes in Grand Case on French ST Martin, so when we return it will be to shoot even more pix and find new places that I can work with to host my prints.
Looking to return in late May of 2009 so if there are any out there that still read my blog….I will start posting about my Caribbean obsession soon. Already looking at prices of flights and they are running in the 6-700 range from my home town with an overnight layover in either New York or Chicago….am hoping to wait it out and find one thru Dallas and or Miami…but we shall see.
We had our third annual Pirates and Wenches party last Saturday evening.
It was fun but ye ole cap’n felt like at the end of the party that the ship had been scuttled and sunk, now lying on some un mapped reef.
If it is to reemerge from the depths of Davey Jones’s locker for a fourth year, at this point the cap’n would be totally shocked.
No the party wasn’t bad but like the trilogy of Pirates of the Caribbean movies…this one may have played out ….run aground. We had a good time with only a few minor incidents but what party that is based on costumes and booze doesn’t have a hiccup or two? Some of our regular crew attended and some of them were shanghaied. We had some new visitors too and I think for the most part they had a pretty good time. I will soon be posting a real story and pix of the party on line at my website.
Now on to the next adventure….time to start thinking about our return to the islands. This time it will be a bit more business. I have been fortunate enough to place some of my pictures in one of the shoppes in Grand Case on French ST Martin, so when we return it will be to shoot even more pix and find new places that I can work with to host my prints.
Looking to return in late May of 2009 so if there are any out there that still read my blog….I will start posting about my Caribbean obsession soon. Already looking at prices of flights and they are running in the 6-700 range from my home town with an overnight layover in either New York or Chicago….am hoping to wait it out and find one thru Dallas and or Miami…but we shall see.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Been a while
Its been a couple of crazy weeks for Rob. The new baby in the house is lots of fun but he has pretty much captured our focus day in and day out. This has led me to let a few things slide. 1. posting weekly on my blog, 2. updating my website and 3. working on my personal business. The third of the three is the most concerning to me as I was hoping to be further along with it than I am today.
We do have an upcoming event that has in many ways become a beast to us. Our annual Pirate Party. This will be our third year to host. The ship’s crew grows yearly and this year is certainly no exception. Looks like we may have to open a second deck for this one. We will have guests from all over our home port of Kansas City as well as some other ports a bit further away. We have found out that a couple of our long distance pirates wont be making this year’s sailing. One had a much better offer and is off to sail Lake Tahoe that week and the other just couldn’t get out of some plans in Dallas to make it up for this event. While in discussion about the upcoming party one of my friends pointed out that we will be 9 days from the Presidential election. That being said we will have crew members from both sides of politics so we created some party rules to keep from having a battle royal. Politics and liquor make for a bit too much party…
The rules are pretty much common sense but I will have no mutiny on my ship…LOL
Here be the rules;
Pirates Code III
1. No INK No Entry….this is a non negotiable. If ye arrive for this cruise without ink, ye will be provided with opportunity to partake or receive the dreaded black spot.
2. Grog provided and dispensed by the Cap’n, ye don’t like rum? Ye may wish to bring yer own spirits.
3. Grub is the price of entry, bring enough to share with yer maties and be creative (but no Salmagundi……)
4. The HMS Antilles Treasures is a no smoking ship…Don’t want the grog to ignite nor any of the stores in the hold to be damaged so if ye need to exchange the air in ye lungs for that be a bit more cloudy….all smoking must be done on land and away from all points of entry
5. Leave yer politics on the dock, Ye talk politics…..yer choices be to get marooned or ye walk the plank…..there be no brawling over donkeys and elephants on this ship.
6. No, and the Cap’n means, NO porcelain party crashers or any similar ballast shall be brought aboard nor dockside!! There be no need for a ship’s buffoon or jester. Don, ye filthy bilge rat ye reading this?
7. Please bring a designated oarsman the grog be stout and plentiful and we want no DUI’s once ye go ashore.
8. Ye be flogged for excessive or overt displays of affection. Though we be pirates we be discreet ones, if ye get an itch that ye need scratched….shove off and set sail for another port. All booty will be surrendered on shore only.
9. Landlubbers (no pirate costume) be welcome but be required to lead a toast of the Cap’n & crew
10. Ye break it ye buy it!!! See Cap’n for inflated pricing information….remember Rob's a Pirate!!
We do have an upcoming event that has in many ways become a beast to us. Our annual Pirate Party. This will be our third year to host. The ship’s crew grows yearly and this year is certainly no exception. Looks like we may have to open a second deck for this one. We will have guests from all over our home port of Kansas City as well as some other ports a bit further away. We have found out that a couple of our long distance pirates wont be making this year’s sailing. One had a much better offer and is off to sail Lake Tahoe that week and the other just couldn’t get out of some plans in Dallas to make it up for this event. While in discussion about the upcoming party one of my friends pointed out that we will be 9 days from the Presidential election. That being said we will have crew members from both sides of politics so we created some party rules to keep from having a battle royal. Politics and liquor make for a bit too much party…
The rules are pretty much common sense but I will have no mutiny on my ship…LOL
Here be the rules;
Pirates Code III
1. No INK No Entry….this is a non negotiable. If ye arrive for this cruise without ink, ye will be provided with opportunity to partake or receive the dreaded black spot.
2. Grog provided and dispensed by the Cap’n, ye don’t like rum? Ye may wish to bring yer own spirits.
3. Grub is the price of entry, bring enough to share with yer maties and be creative (but no Salmagundi……)
4. The HMS Antilles Treasures is a no smoking ship…Don’t want the grog to ignite nor any of the stores in the hold to be damaged so if ye need to exchange the air in ye lungs for that be a bit more cloudy….all smoking must be done on land and away from all points of entry
5. Leave yer politics on the dock, Ye talk politics…..yer choices be to get marooned or ye walk the plank…..there be no brawling over donkeys and elephants on this ship.
6. No, and the Cap’n means, NO porcelain party crashers or any similar ballast shall be brought aboard nor dockside!! There be no need for a ship’s buffoon or jester. Don, ye filthy bilge rat ye reading this?
7. Please bring a designated oarsman the grog be stout and plentiful and we want no DUI’s once ye go ashore.
8. Ye be flogged for excessive or overt displays of affection. Though we be pirates we be discreet ones, if ye get an itch that ye need scratched….shove off and set sail for another port. All booty will be surrendered on shore only.
9. Landlubbers (no pirate costume) be welcome but be required to lead a toast of the Cap’n & crew
10. Ye break it ye buy it!!! See Cap’n for inflated pricing information….remember Rob's a Pirate!!
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