The Mug Shot

Here it is:

 NAME:  Stovall, Charleigh-Girl

HEIGHT:     22 inches

WEIGHT:  30 pounds

AGE:  Almost 10 Years

Yes, I had finally had it.  Pushed to the limit.

Time for a citizen's arrest.

The final straw:

Now, you might be thinking this doesn't look

that serious, and...

it's actually not as serious as the last thing she did--

chewing up a complete book of blank checks--

which cost money.

The above infraction, however, occurred while I was

in the bathroom getting dressed!

Never before has she been so bad with me at home. 

Who can forget this event...

 But...that was five years ago!

She was just a juvenile delinquent then. 

Now she's a geriatric delinquent!

Who am I kidding?

This is really all my fault.

She is just bored.  I don't play with her enough.

I haven't been consistent enough with her.

I am not firm.

I am consistently not firm.

Besides, who can be mad at this face?

 

ME--that's who.

But I can't stay mad.

She is almost 70 in people years.

I don't think she's going to change.

But...

I don't know how I'll make it without her

and her badness. 

Oh...and don't worry about her getting upset

over my citizen's arrest of her.

Here is how she felt about it.

 

It was just one big yawn.

I'm just like her.

All bark and no bite.

Stop the Year! I Need Do-Overs!

Things started derailing on December 23, 2014,

when I went to my primary care doctor
for an overdue but routine checkup.

After being my doctor for about 30 years, 
 he was retiring.

For the first time in my long life,

I heard, "Your blood pressure is a little high."

Trigger a whirlwind.

Retaken--not quite as high; "Yes that is high;"

"No that's not that high;" "That's dangerously high;"

"I need medication;"

"This med is making me feel bad;" "Stop med;"

"Monitor;" "BP high only in morning (?);"

ending with:

"Go enjoy your cruise without medication!"

("Oh--no salt either!")

Now that's not all.

My only question for the doc regarded 

Lipitor, which I took for my high cholesterol.

I had heard a couple of the guys at bridge saying

they couldn't take Lipitor because it made

their legs hurt.

Hmmm.  My aching legs were a tremendous

problem to me.

The doctor suggested I leave off the Lipitor

for a couple of weeks to see if I 

noticed improvement.

I did, and I did!!!  So much better.

However, I haven't gotten the new doctor to

prescribe a replacement.
("Maybe you'll be okay without it!?")

So...if I keeled over in St. Thomas, I have two

new possible causes.
(For "old" likely causes, read HERE)


Fretting turned into true misery on
January 8, 2015.
I awoke with a horrendous sore throat, too
nauseated to drive myself to the doctor.
I was sure I had the flu.  Positive.
Susan took me for the diagnosis.
I was grateful to be wrong.  
It was not the flu, but
now I think I might have recovered
more quickly from that than from whatever
it was!
Virus, respiratory, sore throat, nasty cold,
sore throat again, cough, on and on.


I have not been this type of sick in years.
I think this has made up for it.
I have never been down this long in my life.
I have gone for days without leaving home.
My friends and family have brought
me food and faithfully checked on me.


I'll tell you what this episode has done for me.
It has made me so thankful for my wonderful,
comfortable home to which I can retreat.
My head may be stuffy, but my heart is so
warm from the way my kids have rallied 
around me.
I have thanked God over and over that my
circumstances are such that I can
keep my unpleasant self inside--
not spreading these awful germs to others.
I don't have to go to work.
What a giant blessing.
And...I am grateful to be at a point in my
life where I am responsible only
for me and Charleigh-Girl.


Now, you're probably wondering how in the
world I did on a cruise during all this.
My throat was terribly sore again the first
two days and nights, but the interim
doctor had recommended chamomile tea w/honey
as a treatment.
The spa had chamomile tea bags, room service
brought honey, and the fancy schmancy coffee
machine in the Studio Lounge 
 had hot water.  Voila!
The lounge also always had cold orange juice.
I took lots of Advil and drank lots of oj.
And the annoying sneezing and accompanying 
unpleasant symptoms did not really begin
until I got back home.


Incidentally, any thought I had of going to
the ship's infirmary, either to have my
blood pressure checked or to have my poor
throat cultured, had to be quashed.
The doctor could have confined me to my
room--my 99 square feet!
I didn't love it that much!


I am writing this on Sunday afternoon,
February 8, 2015.
This is my New Year's Eve.
I'm declaring myself well tomorrow.
I am implementing plans I had for
January 5, 2015,
to improve my lifestyle a bit.
If they pan out, I'll tell you all about them.
(If they don't, then I was just "keeding!")


A giant THANK YOU to all who have
shown such loving concern for me,
and

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

 

Here's a Peek at my Getaway!

On Saturday morning, January 24th, I took off

to go get my Mexican vanilla!

Kudos to American Airlines!  It was a great flight!

And...smooth transfer to ship--the Norwegian Getaway.

First sight of ship:

(And, perhaps, the best picture!  You can't see the

gaudy part!  Just wait!)

I got a bite to eat, then started looking for my cabin.

It was a studio--and it took me forever

to find it, even though I knew it was on

the eleventh floor.

In fact, it was 11,573.  See it on this sign?

So did I, but it eluded me!

Success!  Here it is!

 And with my slightly excessive luggage!

The room was exactly like the pictures; therefore,

exactly what I expected. 

The size did not bother me or make me

claustrophobic at all. 

It was clean and new and efficient.

But...here's the best part.

The two story Studio Lounge.

From my floor looking down.

And the best of the best?

  The coffee--everything machine!

Cappuccinos, lattes, hot chocolate, hot tea!

Loved it!

 We always had cake and cookies...

 and fruit.

Now looking up at my floor.

Only we solo travelers had access to the Studio Lounge

via our room key.

Okay...On to my second favorite thing--

the Thermal Spa!

The "Salt Bath" is more of a "Salt Room"

 You sit on the tile bench (left)...

and put your feet here. 

Luxury.

This beautiful chandelier changed colors.

Something I LOVE about Norwegian.

The fish on the carpet swim "forward."

Let's you know whether or not you're walking

the right direction!

My cabin was starboard and forward.

Important to know, or one can get a little

more exercise than one bargained for.

This is my room and my hall.

 The colors in the hall also changed.

Now to our stops.  First--St. Maarten

We were definitely easy to spot in any port.

Would anyone argue the fact that we were gaudy?

The "Gaudy Getaway!"

I'm so sorry this is the only picture I got

 of the outside decor of the ship.

(Not really.) 

 

So off I go to the butterfly farm on the French

side of St. Maarten.

             

Do those things ^ really turn into these?

And here we are crossing back into the Dutch portion

of St. Maarten.

 

This picture hardly does justice to going from one

country to another. 

In fact, it is downright pitiful.

Next stop: St. Thomas.

Mission: Mexican vanilla

Method: Rode three van taxis downtown

 and right back unsuccessfully

in the heat through wild traffic.

Pictures: I have some, but I'm going to spare you.

Third stop: Nassau, Bahamas

Mission: Mexican vanilla

Method: Walked miles in the heat.

Pictures:

                  What a stunning picture.

               Oh, Constellation.  You are so boring.

At some point while trudging around Nassau

 searching for Mexican vanilla, 

it finally dawned on me.

For Mexican vanilla,

perhaps I needed to go to Mexico!

So...I got...Bahamian vanilla! 

 I hope it's not good, cause then I'll have

to go on another cruise--

to Mexico this time!

This was as much of an adventure as I imagined.

It was surprising how many solo travelers

there were onboard (every studio was occupied) and how sold they were on the studios.

Personally, I missed seeing the water.

I did not miss paying the "single supplement,"

which translates "paying double!"