zweihund
I tagged myself. I'm it.
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2006
Hmm. It seems a little dust has accumulated in my absence. Good thing I carry a swiffer at all times
.
So, first off an apology. I know its kind of moot, but I should have never made a promise I was not sure I could keep. I had a heck of a string of both good and bad luck that started as soon as I began this TR, and there was no way I could have predicted how much time all of those things would take up. I should, however, always assume that life is going to throw some interesting things your way, and therefore promises of things that are outside my control are not such a good thing to make.
The bad: I had surgery. And the death of a family friend. Both of those things were hard, but thankfully with the support of family and friends I made it through.
The good: I had A LOT of writing work. With deadlines. Crazy deadlines. Oh, and then there were these little holidays we like to call Thanksgiving and Christmas. And people actually wanted to hang out with us! Imagine that. Believe it or not, we actually turned down about 25% of our invitations because I was either (a) writing or (b) wanting to spend some quality time with my husband, who was starting to think the back of my head at the computer might be all he would ever see again.
Such is the life of a writer.
At any rate, my giant project is done. Its in the process of being scrutinized and (hopefully) approved. I promise I will let the cat out of the bag once it is all over, but for now I think Ill try to pick up where I left off.
Good thing I take notes, huh?
Alrighty ..so there we were, about 3 months ago, waking up to our second day at sea. The air was crisp, the birds were chirping, the fish were ..flying?
I kept seeing these things popping up out of the water and diving back in. They looked too small to be dolphins, and too close to the water (and the giant boat clipping through it) to be birds. Every time I tried to point them out to someone, they would vanish and stop. I felt like that guy from the Bugs Bunny cartoon with the dancing frog.
No, he sings!
RIBBIT.
Has anyone else ever seen these, or was I just in a pre-champagne haze here? Flying fish: do they really exist? And if so, do they like the Disney Magic?
We relaxed on the verandah with our room service coffee, which arrived promptly at 7:30 AM. And before you give me the are you people crazy? talk, keep in mind that Lionel and I both work EARLY. I get to work at 6:30. He used to work at 5. IN THE MORNING. So for us? 7:30 feels like sleeping in until 11.
Plus, there is something magical about the morning on a boats verandah. Sipping coffee, listening to the wind, smelling the sea (and hopefully not the smoke pouring in from a neighboring balcony, we lucked out this year by not being placed near smokers) .you feel like you are the only people in the world who are awake. Well, except for the Captain. We hope.
Another beautiful morning on the verandah.....
Feet up, reading a great book.....is there a better way to start the day?
We had brunch scheduled this morning, but we were in need of a light nibble to hold us over. This meant that we would have to practice something we had never before managed at a Disney buffet: restraint. A bowl of oatmeal, some fruit and a Mickey waffle later, we were back on the verandah eating, reading and recapping our wonderful day in Mexico.
And then, it was hot tub time.
I took a terribly unflattering photo of the two of us up on deck, and as posting it here might be grounds for divorce I am opting to describe it instead: picture my face taking up most of the frame, one eye closed and with a nose so enormous if might have caused the boat to tilt. I cant even begin to describe my hair. Somewhere over my shoulder is a tiny Lionel head with half-closed eyes and the beginnings of a smile. And a faux hawk. I guess we both forgot to look in the mirror before we headed up to the Quiet Cove. Ah, well. Bygones.
After some wonderful relaxation time in the hot tub, during which I pimped the DIS to a man who claimed that his wife was the ultimate vacation planner (hello! Shes sitting right next to you!), we headed back up to make ourselves presentable for brunch. Sarah and Mat, after enjoying a lie-in, met us at 10:30 looking mostly awake.
You know the best thing about having Champagne brunch with two non-drinkers? Need I say any more? Yes, I know this may come as a shock to you, but I had THREE GLASSES all by myself.
Mat and Sarah after I drank all their Champagne.
Apparently after drinking, my sweated gets disheveled.
Brunch was amazing as always. I love the atmosphere at Palo, and the leisure with which meals are allowed to be enjoyed. We didnt overstuff ourselves like we did last time, but we came pretty close. My favorite item was the stolen bread with berries and fresh whipped cream. I bet you thought I was going to say the Champagne! No, that was my second favorite.
Sometime later that morning, after I changed out of my heels (which are very dangerous after three glasses of Champagne, take note ladies) I had my DOTD: a Panama Hat. At one point, I realized there were only subtle differences in the DOTD taste. Most were fruity and boozy, and otherwise unremarkable. Still, they tasted good. And what a bargain! You have to love a boozy bargain.
Next up: towel folding!
Mat and I went to the towel seminar while Sarah and Lionel headed up to the art auction in hopes of winning a major award. While Mat and I learned how to make a monkey and a dog, Sarah tried to convince Lionel that what our living room was really lacking was a $500 painting of the Beasts castle.
$500? Thats 100 DOTDs!
Learning to make a mokey.
A parade of towel animals.
My review of the towel folding? Cute. Fun for families. Moved very quickly. Of course, my drunken butt was having a hard time keeping up, so that might have had something to do with it. I kind of wished we would have made more animals, but I suppose more than 30 minutes of towel folding might be more than most could bear.
At 3:05 sharp, it was time for the galley tour. My review of the galley tour: very interesting to see what is behind the scenes, but much less interesting when the tour is blatantly overbooked. I dont know if they were letting too many people sign up, or if people were just joining the line outside Lumieres without knowing what they were heading to, but it was PACKED. They divided the group into three parts and shuffled us through in smaller packs. Of about 20.
I enjoyed seeing the dessert line, and the giant stand mixers and even the huge drink stations. And someone was getting married! There was an adorable little wedding cake sitting in the pastry kitchen with a Minnie and Mickey bride and groom topper. Fun times.
Lionel feels peace with the stainless steel.
Chef's office!
Cakes galore......commence drooling.
Wedding cake.
We grabbed our cookie and exited the land of endless stainless steel counters and appliances, and headed up to our favorite gaming spot: the Cove Café.
Don't try to come between a man and his monkey.
Up next: Wall-E, curry and another amazing sunset.
So, first off an apology. I know its kind of moot, but I should have never made a promise I was not sure I could keep. I had a heck of a string of both good and bad luck that started as soon as I began this TR, and there was no way I could have predicted how much time all of those things would take up. I should, however, always assume that life is going to throw some interesting things your way, and therefore promises of things that are outside my control are not such a good thing to make.
The bad: I had surgery. And the death of a family friend. Both of those things were hard, but thankfully with the support of family and friends I made it through.
The good: I had A LOT of writing work. With deadlines. Crazy deadlines. Oh, and then there were these little holidays we like to call Thanksgiving and Christmas. And people actually wanted to hang out with us! Imagine that. Believe it or not, we actually turned down about 25% of our invitations because I was either (a) writing or (b) wanting to spend some quality time with my husband, who was starting to think the back of my head at the computer might be all he would ever see again.
Such is the life of a writer.
At any rate, my giant project is done. Its in the process of being scrutinized and (hopefully) approved. I promise I will let the cat out of the bag once it is all over, but for now I think Ill try to pick up where I left off.
Good thing I take notes, huh?
Alrighty ..so there we were, about 3 months ago, waking up to our second day at sea. The air was crisp, the birds were chirping, the fish were ..flying?
I kept seeing these things popping up out of the water and diving back in. They looked too small to be dolphins, and too close to the water (and the giant boat clipping through it) to be birds. Every time I tried to point them out to someone, they would vanish and stop. I felt like that guy from the Bugs Bunny cartoon with the dancing frog.
No, he sings!
RIBBIT.
Has anyone else ever seen these, or was I just in a pre-champagne haze here? Flying fish: do they really exist? And if so, do they like the Disney Magic?
We relaxed on the verandah with our room service coffee, which arrived promptly at 7:30 AM. And before you give me the are you people crazy? talk, keep in mind that Lionel and I both work EARLY. I get to work at 6:30. He used to work at 5. IN THE MORNING. So for us? 7:30 feels like sleeping in until 11.
Plus, there is something magical about the morning on a boats verandah. Sipping coffee, listening to the wind, smelling the sea (and hopefully not the smoke pouring in from a neighboring balcony, we lucked out this year by not being placed near smokers) .you feel like you are the only people in the world who are awake. Well, except for the Captain. We hope.
Another beautiful morning on the verandah.....
Feet up, reading a great book.....is there a better way to start the day?
We had brunch scheduled this morning, but we were in need of a light nibble to hold us over. This meant that we would have to practice something we had never before managed at a Disney buffet: restraint. A bowl of oatmeal, some fruit and a Mickey waffle later, we were back on the verandah eating, reading and recapping our wonderful day in Mexico.
And then, it was hot tub time.
I took a terribly unflattering photo of the two of us up on deck, and as posting it here might be grounds for divorce I am opting to describe it instead: picture my face taking up most of the frame, one eye closed and with a nose so enormous if might have caused the boat to tilt. I cant even begin to describe my hair. Somewhere over my shoulder is a tiny Lionel head with half-closed eyes and the beginnings of a smile. And a faux hawk. I guess we both forgot to look in the mirror before we headed up to the Quiet Cove. Ah, well. Bygones.
After some wonderful relaxation time in the hot tub, during which I pimped the DIS to a man who claimed that his wife was the ultimate vacation planner (hello! Shes sitting right next to you!), we headed back up to make ourselves presentable for brunch. Sarah and Mat, after enjoying a lie-in, met us at 10:30 looking mostly awake.
You know the best thing about having Champagne brunch with two non-drinkers? Need I say any more? Yes, I know this may come as a shock to you, but I had THREE GLASSES all by myself.
Mat and Sarah after I drank all their Champagne.
Apparently after drinking, my sweated gets disheveled.
Brunch was amazing as always. I love the atmosphere at Palo, and the leisure with which meals are allowed to be enjoyed. We didnt overstuff ourselves like we did last time, but we came pretty close. My favorite item was the stolen bread with berries and fresh whipped cream. I bet you thought I was going to say the Champagne! No, that was my second favorite.
Sometime later that morning, after I changed out of my heels (which are very dangerous after three glasses of Champagne, take note ladies) I had my DOTD: a Panama Hat. At one point, I realized there were only subtle differences in the DOTD taste. Most were fruity and boozy, and otherwise unremarkable. Still, they tasted good. And what a bargain! You have to love a boozy bargain.
Next up: towel folding!
Mat and I went to the towel seminar while Sarah and Lionel headed up to the art auction in hopes of winning a major award. While Mat and I learned how to make a monkey and a dog, Sarah tried to convince Lionel that what our living room was really lacking was a $500 painting of the Beasts castle.
$500? Thats 100 DOTDs!
Learning to make a mokey.
A parade of towel animals.
My review of the towel folding? Cute. Fun for families. Moved very quickly. Of course, my drunken butt was having a hard time keeping up, so that might have had something to do with it. I kind of wished we would have made more animals, but I suppose more than 30 minutes of towel folding might be more than most could bear.
At 3:05 sharp, it was time for the galley tour. My review of the galley tour: very interesting to see what is behind the scenes, but much less interesting when the tour is blatantly overbooked. I dont know if they were letting too many people sign up, or if people were just joining the line outside Lumieres without knowing what they were heading to, but it was PACKED. They divided the group into three parts and shuffled us through in smaller packs. Of about 20.
I enjoyed seeing the dessert line, and the giant stand mixers and even the huge drink stations. And someone was getting married! There was an adorable little wedding cake sitting in the pastry kitchen with a Minnie and Mickey bride and groom topper. Fun times.
Lionel feels peace with the stainless steel.
Chef's office!
Cakes galore......commence drooling.
Wedding cake.
We grabbed our cookie and exited the land of endless stainless steel counters and appliances, and headed up to our favorite gaming spot: the Cove Café.
Don't try to come between a man and his monkey.
Up next: Wall-E, curry and another amazing sunset.
Amy and I were there too! It was very quick.
your yellow Palo sweater.
