The Lynn Girls' Staycation!!!

No passport required for my recent staycation! My cousin Sarah did have to deal with plane delays coming here to join me from Colorado, but I tracked her from the comfort of my home, our destination for the week. We had sunsets as pretty as a cruise ship, but that's where  the comparison stops! No room service or tidied room or lavish entertainment. We "made do" quite well, however!

Sarah's "Stateroom"

It was almost Mother's Day, so I had treats for our first day sent by Jay and Terri! Flowers and amazing cheesecake delivered to our vessel!!!

We couldn't have planned better entertainment than we had on the night after Sarah arrived. She and I had both read the book Remarkably Bright Creatures, and we were able to watch the movie together on Netflix. 5 stars from us!

Saturday we met my lunch bunch at the Blue Mound Cafe for Monte Cristo sandwiches. Out of the six of us in the group, 5 wear hearing aids so there were lots of "huhs?" and yelling! And lots of fun and laughter! Honestly, that's kinda like some of the tables at which I've sat on cruises! We were remiss about taking pictures, but Sarah got a couple...one of 4 of us checking out and then our extraordinary effort at a senior selfie!

I know you wish you could have been there!!!

We had a great Saturday afternoon celebrating Mother's Day early at the Metzgers! The drought on pictures continues. Susan had set beautiful tables for 13 of us to have pizza and her homemade Mama's Pizza salad! We raked in quite a lot of gifts and ate quite a lot of pizza! It was so much fun. Random pics:

Sarah and I enjoyed my unique Mother's Day gift from the Metzgers--King's Hawaiian pizza bites with cheese dipping sauce. Very special! My daughter knows me well!

All the moms got those pretty cups of kalanchoes!

There was a pool prettier than any cruise ship pool, but Sarah and I passed on the swimming!

Sunday morning we went to "Sunday School" with my lovely class of friends.  Sarah has been with me before, so she was warmly welcomed back. We stopped at Taco Bueno for a very exotic lunch of Taco salads! 5 stars for those, too!

No visit could be complete with breakfast at Old South Pancake House. We are piggy about the German pancakes. 

Another must for us it Gracie Lane and its Rose Garden Tea Room and shopping! We had a delicious lunch, brought our coconut and chocolate pie slices home, and bought new almost matching sunglasses! Actually, it was quite embarrassing that I parked myself in their "Man Cave" while Sarah shopped!

 

Sarah was an accomplished thrift shopper even before it became a craze. So we went to Nu 2 U Resale in Pantego as our next stop. She found several amazing items. It is a fun place to shop!

The only television show we both watch faithfully is Survivor on Wednesday night. For our watch party we ordered Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes from The Cheesecake Factory. I cannot describe these, but nothing says party like they do IMHO! 

Oh...and I mustn't forget our feast at Mac's Bar & Grill. I had my old faithful chicken fried steak, and Sarah had orange roughy, which were only slightly better than the Mac's salad and bread we had for starters! And our darling server actually had an aunt who lives in Cedaredge, CO, which no one has ever heard of but is where Sarah lives! Quite surprising!

Sarah so generously makes memory books for me for all our visits together--whether here or there! Fancy, elaborate memory books. I have always wanted to place them in a display basket. 

We did some basket shopping, and this is what I now view about umpteen hours a day as I lounge in my recliner!

There are so many hours of joy represented in that basket.

It is a constant reminder of happy days.

I haven't mentioned how much Sarah helped me while she was here. My stamina and energy seem to have retired, and hers haven't. She fixed our meals and snacks and tidied up while I lounged. She is very neat and ambitious. She tucked me in at night and prayed for me. It was pretty heavenly. 

There's a lot to be said for a good staycation if you're with a 

Sarah Ellen Lynn Festger (SELF)

I can't wait for the next one!

        

Not Quite as Smooth a Cruise as Last Year!

I'll be trying to make a short, fun, but rather uneventful cruise longer and more exciting! Brave Susan and I drove to Galveston to sail for 5 nights on the Mariner of the Seas again. This is our same cruise as the one last May, but with more mishaps and complications! Right off we were notified that there was a problem with boarding, so we needed to delay our arrival by 2 hours.  Frustrated looks were exchanged between us...we could have slept later. Instead we stopped at Starbucks for a coffee break.

Now one of the mantras I have developed about travel is NOT to report on the problems of the trip first! That would be hard to avoid on this blog, since the first day was kinda nothing but problems. First problem: a wheelchair to get me onto the ship. The fact that this worked flawlessly last year seems to have been a fluke. Two many missteps to relate. It was an extended mess.

Susan parked me while she went to check out our room!

My pina colada matched my outfit!

Our room was smaller (only one available as late as I booked) but to our great relief the rented oxygenator was there, along with a spare. Only thing was when Susan plugged it in, the first would not work--at all! So we switched to the second, realizing that we now had no back up.

Jamie's, the Italian specialty restaurant saved the day for us! Neither of us had ever eaten at Jamie's, and we called it the best shipboard meal we had ever had. And...we were the only patrons in the restaurant, so we were not lacking in attention! They thanked us for "reserving the place for the night!"

 I won't bore you with all our delightful courses, but...

These were my entreés. Delicious prawn linguine with a side of the best lasagna I ever tasted.

Susan's dessert

So went to bed full and happy, but the day was not through with us yet! Before I even got to sleep, a noxious odor began coming through my nasal cannula. It smelled very strongly like some kind of paint odor. I woke Susan and since we did not have a backup oxygenator, she went down to Guest Services at midnight  for help. Amazingly, the ship had one oxygenator and it was not in use. They had to open the infirmary for her, and a doctor had to approve--at midnight. I count this as another miracle in my life. The oxygen company did not have an outlet at either of our stops. I could have used my portable oxygen machine, but it is not a continuous flow like I require at night.

For the remainder of our trip we had three (3!) oxygenators in our small room. Well, one was in our even smaller closet.

They do not seem as small as they look here when one is having to navigate around them. That's one back there in the corner. And the white one is the ship's.

The best part of our room:

Our balcony

We had breakfast out here!

And look who we were thinking of!

My lunches were, shall we say, unusual. Susan got them for me, and she knows just what I like! Both these plates are mine

We love the Windjammer. We can get whatever wild combo we want! Her plates looked much the same, only with some healthier stuff!

It was hard not to think about what would be facing us when we got home on Saturday. Susan watched the weather all week. She and Rob decided he would fly down to Houston, pick up my car, and drive us home if possible.

On formal night we had dinner and saw a production show.

The show was outstanding and very entertaining!

We saw the ice show, too, always a favorite!

Just no pictures because wheelchair seating is up in the rafters. 

My driver toured me around frequently. We were on the 7th floor, and each floor had a little overlook.

"Free ice cream!" 

The last day...I went back to Jamie's!

I loved wearing the blue Royal Caribbean hoodie that I bought on the cruise last year! It is sparkly on the back! And carrying the little blue purse that Madeline bought me on the Disney Magic! My favorite OOTD!

Picture sparklies!

Our last dinner! Picture taken by the cutest waiter--we could just tell he would do a good job!

Getting off was as much of a beating as getting on!

But we made it with the help of Rob and his brother-in-law Todd.

The weather wasn't too bad until we got close to home. Then it looked like this!

We are so thankful for getting home safely. I'm especially thankful to my lady in waiting. For the midnight trip to Guest Services, and for all the impossible threshholds to wheel me over, all the appliances to keep charged up, for the trips to get my food, etc., etc., etc. Oh...and for fixing the back of my hair daily!
I couldn't have done a bit of it without my Susan!

Family Christmas Celebration - 2025

Today is December 27th, but it is only one day past our family celebration.  We gathered here at my Christmas wonderland.      I was all decorated for the occasion, but my kitchen was unfortunately out of service...or the cook was. So everyone got to choose his or her own Jersey Mike's sub and even chips! I know...so special!  But just wait for the dessert!

Susan had bought me a wonderful book, and Susannah sat right down to read it to Bear. I wish I could include a video, but it might be next Christmas before I succeeded. This was definitely a highlight of our Christmas--TO MIMI's HOUSE WE GO"

My favorite picture! The little angel looked up at me and smiled.

I will never forget this moment.

My grands gave me, drumroll please, a Nespresso machine! Madeline has one and has made wonderful coffees for me with it! Coffee has become a highlight of my days, and this opens up a whole new world of options!

Maddie gave Jay and Terri the cutest Funko characters named

Jay and Terri and resembling them! 

We had a good laugh over Terri's and Rob's matching gifts from me! They are mugs that say "Being your mother-in-law seems like gift enough...but here's a mug"

The only thing is that they go on to say,

Merry Christmas 2024.

Terri noticed! Rob said, "Did you forget to give them to us last Christmas?" "Why yes, I believe I did! I was hoping you wouldn't notice."

Terri and Jay gave Bear all the coolest toys du jour, including a fabulous book he's going to love, and this fascinating teether,

and, of course, his Mickey ears which are monogrammed

Barrett!

Susannah's and Nick's anniversary is coming up on New Year's Eve! People still comment on how good their wedding cake was, and it was made by Creme de la Creme. The bakery sells sample boxes containing small pieces of all their flavors. I got a couple of these for our dessert, and here Susie and Nick are "cutting the cake," sharing all their favorite flavors. Just the best cake ever! I was proud of my idea, if not of my baking or cooking!

I had enough for everyone to have at least two pieces, but we didn't even eat near that much. But never fear. I'm enjoying the rest.

One of the most exciting thing about my Christmas was having the lights shining in the 75 plus year old doll house my parents gave me as a child. My precious niece Diann and her wonderful husband Patrick analyzed the problem, bought the parts, and sent an electrician to fix it. It made my Christmas bright!

This is the sweetest, most loving, most generous family, if I do say so myself, and I do.

I'm certainly glad Susan is in this picture, since it seems to be

the only one which included her. And she's the one who always makes sure everyone has photo memories!

Insert shame face.

The Mimes may not have cooked and for sure had lots of help, but she was still as tired as if she had been Mrs. Claus. Here are just a few of the pretties that she didn't have the energy to snuff.

The Metzgers came and helped me plug in and switch on all of them and offered to come back and undo, but I decided to just let them shine away.

This was the first thing I saw when I walked into the kitchen this morning.

See the candles in the little houses?

All the little votives still going!

And this brightness operates by remote!

And to all a Good Night!