*OFFICIAL* CC Group Cruise 02/15/2014 Cupid's IV Southern Caribbean - Carnival Breeze

[HeidiHo]

Good Morning!

 

A strange thing happened here in the middle of the night. I woke up and realized that the power was out. I got up and checked the circuit breakers because a couple of weeks ago the same thing happened and it was just the circuit breaker but this time none of the breakers had flipped so I just went back to bed figuring it would eventually come back on. Then Dave got up around 4:00 and discovered that in reality, the power was only out to half of the house. I hadn't noticed that earlier because none of the lights were on in the half that still had power so I just assumed the whole house was out. I have never seen power go out to just half of the house unless it's a circuit breaker and again, the circuit breakers were fine. So Dave called Com Ed and they were here this morning. Apparently it's a line outside that a pine tree has been rubbing on. It will need to be replaced. They are sending another crew out later to replace it but in the mean time the guy was able to restore power to the whole house. Even if he hadn't been able to do that we would have been OK because luckily, the furnace, refrigerator and freezer were in the part of the house that had power. We do have a brand new generator that we could use if necessary though. Dave bought it a couple of years ago but we haven't had to use it yet. That's one of those things you buy but hope you never actually have to use.

 

Sue - I don't know if I'm happy about being with my kitty when she died. Part of me is glad because I was able to comfort her but part of me is having a hard time dealing with it. It's a picture I can't get out of my head and when I think about it I get very upset. This was the first time I have been with a pet that was put to sleep. We've only ever had to put one other pet down and that was the dog Dave already had when we met. We still had him for a few years after we got married but he was Dave's dog and so when it was time Dave took him to the vet and I didn't go. All of our other pets died naturally at home. To be honest, for the past week or so, every morning I would get up and go check on the cat and I would be hoping she had passed away so that I wouldn't have to make the decision to have her put down. I suppose when the other cats time comes, if we have to put her to sleep I will stay with her but I REALLY hope she'll go naturally.

 

So 2 cruise ships are making big news this week. The Triumph fire and now a Thomson ship had a life boat accident that killed 5 crew members. I had never even heard of Thomson until we were in St. Maarten. There was this great big ship docked right next to us that said TUI on it and the passengers coming and going from it were all German. The ship looked really nice and I was really surprised that I had never heard of this line. Later that evening a man I met on deck said it came out of Germany and that American's can't book on it so that explains why I've never heard of it. When I got home form the cruise I looked them up on line and even their website is in German. News reports are claiming they are a British line and maybe they are but they operate out of Germany.

 

Since it's Valentines week I am thinking, "Shouldn't we be on cruise?" LOL. I thought for sure I'd have to work Thursday night but surprisingly I did not get scheduled. I actually only got 3 shifts this week so I would like to pick up another shift. I could easily pick up Valentines Day but that is the one shift I DON'T want to work. I hate those crazy, busy days. Our guests get too cranky when they have to wait a long time. I get so annoyed when they walk in the door and I tell them the wait will be and hour and a half and they act all shocked. I feel like saying, "Hellloooo, it's Valentines' Day. What did you expect going out to a restaurant without a reservation?" It also annoys me when they started coming up to me and asking me how much longer it's going to be when they have only waited about half of the time that I quoted them. Many will come up to me and tell me that they have been waiting a lot longer than they really have. They don't realize that my computer tells me exactly how long they have been waiting. I've had people come to me and say they've been waiting over an hour and I see on the computer they've only been waiting about 40 minutes. I show them that and then they get even madder because they've been caught in a lie. Last night we were really busy because we had lots of large parties and even though my quote times were accurate and people didn't wait longer than I quoted they were still getting pissed off at me. One guy got mad because they were a party of 6 that came in before a party of 16 came in. Well we seated the 16 first just because a table for 16 became available before a table of 6. I kind of understood where he was coming from but he just didn't get that we are not going to waste a huge table big enough for 16 on a party of 6. If we had done that, the party of 16 might have had to wait another hour. We got the party of 6 seated 5 minutes later anyway. Oh well, it is what it is and things aren't going to change.

 

Have a great day.

[momofzeke]

Our basement project is 100% finished and it looks absolutely fantastic! We got all the clothes sorted, ready to go to Goodwill and I got the bathroom stuff put away. No more bins or boxes of things need to come upstairs, everything is put away down in the basement on shelves and it is a wonderful feeling.

 

Today, we wean the calves. It's going to be hard for me, cause this will be the first time we work cows since Zeke died. He's buried right in my sorting corral, in the spot he always was when we sorted and worked cows, which was one of his favorite things to do. This will also be the first time we see how Callie is around cattle.

 

Heidi, I know what you mean about wishing your kitty would have just died in her sleep. After we found out Zeke had cancer, I wished he would just pass in his sleep some night so I wouldn't have to put him down, but it didn't happen. It's probably just as well that I didn't stay with him while the vet gave him the shot, because that would be a hard thing to get out of my head, just as you said it is with your kitty. I can't help thinking about that last morning when he was just feeling so bad, and it's hard not to get that out of my brain. I keep trying to remember good memories instead, and there are a lot more of those than the bad ones.

 

I saw those 2 stories about the cruise ships. I had never heard of that German cruise line either.

 

Heidi, it always amazes me how dense people can be about crowded, popular restaurants like Olive Garden. Any time we go to a restaurant like that, we just assume we will have to wait anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. Then, if we happen to get seated sooner, it's just a bonus! But, sadly, it seems like a lot of people have forgotten manners and common courtesy. They have such "me" attitude and think the world revolves around them and the heck with anyone else.

[Nazarushka]

We have the same problem this week with Valentine's Day, and with Chris's birthday (it was Saturday). We kept thinking we should be wandering the Caribbean on a cruise ship, it was quite odd to be home instead. We met in 2007 and 4 of the last 5 years we've been on a cruise. Even the 5th year we were supposed to go but had to cancel because of Chris's, then new, job.

 

I ended up going to Olive Garden last night with a friend. Got home and was catching up on this board and saw Heidi's note. I don't get people like that. Chris and I just plain don't go out to restaurants that will be that busy. Here in Phoenix we don't go out on Friday or Saturday unless we get there before 5pm. Most nights if you're somewhere by 6pm you can get right in. That was the case last night, we got seated immediately, had a great waiter and then headed out. But I left my box of leftovers on the table! :( I was looking forward to apricot chicken and garlic bread for lunch. Oh well.

[Flick]

You might be surprised to hear that our area of the Gulf Coast is a HUGE tourist area and we have what is commonly called "Season". "Season" lasts from January to Easter although the snowbirds start trickling down in October and November. At any rate, once "Season" has started it is almost impossible to go out to eat or even drive because of the crowds. Northeners kid us about Early Bird dinners but actually those dinners are an attempt to beat the tourists to the restaurants and indeed they start about 4:30pm because by 6:00 it's all over folks! Just one example: Sarasota has a permenent population of 225,000 people but during "Season" the population swells to waaaay over 500,000....."Course the other side of the coin is the visitors help keep our city "green"!

[HeidiHo]

But I left my box of leftovers on the table! :( I was looking forward to apricot chicken and garlic bread for lunch. Oh well.

 

Haha! That reminds me of something else that happened last night. I was in the front and one of the servers started calling out to me that the couple that just left forgot their leftovers. I literally ran out the door into the cold to catch them. They hadn't got far so I was able to catch them and she came back for her food and was very grateful. Believe or not, we do that all the time for our guests. I don't see it happening at very many other restaurants.

 

Sue - I liked your story on FB about your mixer. I threw my portable mixer away recently because I couldn't get the beaters in it. It was a battle every time I used it and it wasn't very old. :mad: I got so mad one day in the fall I just threw it in the trash and then I asked for a new one for Christmas. I got it but I haven't used it yet. I have a big stand mixer but I hate dragging that out when I just need to do a small thing like a cake mix.

[momofzeke]

We got the calves weaned yesterday, and just as I had expected, I was very sad not to have Zeke running around. Even though I love Callie so much, I still really miss Zeke. Callie actually did pretty well for her first time working cows with us. She was very quiet (some dogs bark a lot when working) and she does have the herding instinct, although she seems to be more of a "head dog" who goes to the front of the herd instead of a "heel dog" who nips at their heels. She was getting the hang of it, though, and the best part is that she minds me really well when I call her back or tell her to sit-and-stay when I don't want her in the way.

 

We couldn't have asked for a better weather day yesterday. It was very pleasant but not at all hot, and the ground was still wet enough that the corral wasn't dusty at all. That's also good for the calves, because it is a lot of stress when you wean. They get very upset and they can get sick easily. If the weather is cold or wet, it isn't good for them and they can get sick and even die. The calves are upset, but most of the cows were dang well ready to have those big calves off of them. A lot of the calves are truly as tall as their mother, so it was time!

 

Michelle ~ dang it, I hate it when I forget my leftovers!! Sounds like you had a nice dinner though.

 

Rick ~ we do the early bird dinners quite a bit when we are in Eugene on busy football weekends. The restaurants are very crowded on those weekends, but if you go by about 5:30 or so, we rarely have to wait very long. I love it because I eat dinner at 5:30 all the time when I'm home, so that is right on schedule for me. The kids think it is very early to eat dinner, but they manage.

 

Heidi ~ I agree, I also don't like to pull out my big stand mixer for small jobs. That's exactly what I was doing, mixing up a cake, when my hand mixer gave up the ghost. Even though my stand mixer is on one of those pull up shelves, that comes up out of my island, I still use the hand mixer if it's a small job like that. I did get a new one, but haven't used it yet.

 

We are getting so close to the 1-year out mark!! It will be nice to be under a year in a couple days!

[Cruisin Dave]

Good morning Cupids,

Not much happening around here. Getting ready for our trip next week to New Orleans then sailing on RCL Navigator OS.

I learned yesterday that a co-worker had his cruise canceled. He was scheduled to sail on the Carnival Triumph this weekend. It was his first cruise. I hope he isn't too bummed about it. They wanted a short cruise to see if they liked it.

It's sad to hear all the stories coming out of the Triumph. I hope that it's just the whiners that we are hearing and not what is actually happening.

Sue, glad to heat that Callie is working well with the herd. I know you miss Zeke. Loosing a friend is difficult.

Hope everyone is ready for tomorrow. I'm prepared.:D

Dave

[Flick]

I know tomorrow is Valentines Day but for us it is another work day for our backpack program. I am enclosing a picture (hopefully) of one side of our two sided shelving unit showing what food is on hand. A lot of this food has to be replaced every week on Thursday so we can pack on Friday. Hmmmm just discovered that the picture is not downloadable...strange. What it shows is a 28' 5-shelf unit crammed full of food...sorry 'bout that.

[HeidiHo]

Good morning!

 

Happy Valentines Day! I originally didn't have to work today but I was asked if I could work lunch so I'm going in. Lunch shouldn't be as bad as dinner. Dave suggested we go out to dinner tonight and I said "No way." I don't want to go out and wait an hour and a half. On second thought, maybe we SHOULD go out to some restaurant and then act all shocked when they tell us the wait will be real long. And then go back to the host every 10 minutes and ask how much longer it will be and lie to them by saying we've been waiting twice as long as we really have. LOL.

 

Dave - I just realized the you and my sister are going to be pretty close to crossing paths a couple of times in the next week. She and my BIL are sailing a 5 day out of NOLA on the 18th so they will be coming back into port on the day you sail. They are flying out of Chicago on the 16th and going through Dallas on Spirit airlines. Spirit changed their original flight and now they only have a 30 minute connection in Dallas. She's very concerned about making that connection especially since Spirit doesn't have another flight that day and I don't know if Spirit has code shares with other airlines so they might get stuck in Dallas for a night. At least they are flying 2 days prior to the cruise.

 

Our other cat is driving me crazy right now. She walks around the house meowing all night long. This actually started right after Staci went back to school after winter break so I don't think it has anything to do with the other cat being gone although, it does seem to have gotten worse since then. I have started keeping a spray bottle of water next to me at night so when she starts meowing she gets a squirt of water. Hopefully she will get the hint but so far all that that has done has caused to to meow from farther away. She'll be in another room but we still hear it. She knows what the water bottle means. All I have to do is pick it up and show it to her and she takes off. That usually shuts her up for a while but a while she'll start up again.

 

Time to go get ready for work.

 

Have a good day.

[momofzeke]

Happy Valentine's Day!! We don't have any plans for tonight, although we may go to town for lunch. Dave needs to get some salt for the calves, and I have a couple errands. I think I will make something simple for dinner tonight, like marinated flank steak and then I found a yummy sounding dessert in one of my healthy recipe sites. It's kind of like a healthified molten lava cake. I am doing pretty well on my diet, so I don't want to go too crazy and get off track like I did Super Bowl Sunday! :eek:

 

FINALLY, we are at the 1-year mark for the cruise!! :D I would love to go to Miami 2 days before we sail, but we will have to see. It's a long time for us to be gone during winter when the cows have to be fed every day. We have neighbors who will do the feeding for us, but I also hate to leave my doggie for such a long time, since it takes us forever in travel time as it is. Even if we go only 1 day early, that will be 11 days away. With the time difference, our flight gets in too late on Sunday after the cruise to drive the 4 or 6 hours (depending on which airport we decide to go out of) home.

 

I haven't been following the problems with the Triumph too closely, other than I know they had a fire and had to cut the cruise short and be towed back to New Orleans. I feel so sorry for those peeps onboard and the ones with a cruise booked for the next couple months that got cancelled. I think I saw that they had to cancel the next 12 cruises. Bummer.

Edited February 14, 2013 by momofzeke

[Flick]

We are driving into Miami the day before with another couple (Idaga), then staying at a motel out by the airport because Kay's sister and BIL (Ken and Jann) are flying in from California on that day. We are looking for a motel that has a "Park n Cruise" package so we have a place to leave the car (it now costs $20.00 a day to park near the dock).I understand there are several who will take you to the pier but you have to use a pay shuttle back to your car from the ship.

We are FINALLY getting some rain....of course getting all the food for the backpacks into the portable from the car a block away was a real joy, but hey we really, really need the rain.

[Flick]

Oh, I almost forgot........Tonight Kay is being nominated Secretary of our ELK's Lodge. All she needs now is a broom stuck you know where!

[momofzeke]

I got a new phone, and I just love it so far! My old one was a smartphone, but very outdated with a very small amount of memory storage in the phone. This new one has oodles and oodles of memory and I have downloaded several apps that my old one wouldn't allow since I didn't have enough memory. I'm a U.S. Cellular customer, and this is a Motorola Electrify M. I wanted the Razr phone, but U.S. Cellular doesn't carry it...this one is similar though.

 

The baler is GONE!! The check cleared Wednesday and they came and got the baler yesterday morning. I think I mentioned that the guy who bought it is the owner of a huge timber company called Sierra Pacific. When they came to look at it, they came in a private lear jet! :p The owner didn't come yesterday, he sent his manager. We are just happy to get it gone and go back to a brand new Hesston baler, which is the brand we are used to and much easier and faster to get parts for if you do have a breakdown.

 

We had Valentine's lunch in town yesterday, and our favorite lunch place served free dessert, a nice little chocolate brownie with whipped cream. Dave grilled a ribeye steak with his homemade rub he puts on it...delicious! The little lava cakes I made were not as super delish as I had hoped, but they were ok. I probably won't make that recipe again though. I have another recipe for a little brownie bite that is healthified and much more tasty.

 

It has been so beautiful here for the last few days! Feels like spring. That's good for our freshly weaned calves. They are doing well, and the moms have pretty much left now. Dave feeds them in another field, but leaves the gates open so they can come back to the corral where the calves are if they want to. There is a fence between them and the calves, but they can see and smell each other. If you don't leave the gate open, they will tear it down. It usually takes a few days, and then they get tired of coming back and we can shut the gates and lock them out.

[De-Luxe08]

Happy Belated Valentine's Day Cupids!! I agree, we don't go out to dinner on Valentine's cause everywhere is way too crowded and with it being during the week, I'm just not into going out, coming home late and then getting up for work the next day. Take me out on the weekend.

 

Next year at this time we will all be boarding the Breeze. We are planning on going in a day early. Just can't take the chance of flying in the same day from Ohio in February.

 

Today is another cold, windy and gloomy day. Chance of snow showers for the next few days, but with no accumulation. Yuck!! Bring me some sunshine.

 

Have a great day!! Donna

[HeidiHo]

Good Morning!

 

I called my sister this morning. They are leaving for NOLA tomorrow and boarding the Carnival Elation on Sunday for a 5 day to MX. I suggested they bring flashlights, extra food, enough clothes for 10 days and poop bags. ;)

 

I friend of mine went to the OG at about 5:30 last night for dinner and said the wait was already an hour. They didn't stay. I'm glad I didn't have to work. Lunch was busy enough plus they decided yesterday of all days to change our floor plans around. The tables are all different. Ones that used to be 4 tops are now 2 tops and ones that used to be 4 tops are now 6 tops. Plus the computer doesn't match up to the floor plan and it won't until our director approves the new floor plan which could be days, maybe even weeks. It's very important that the computer match the floor plan because that's how we determine what tables are open and where we are going to seat people. I don't know how many times yesterday the host doing the computer sent us to tables that weren't big enough or were way too big for the party we were seating. It's not like we had a chance to memorize the new floor plan. I don't understand whey they decided to do this on one of the busiest days of the year. :confused::rolleyes:

 

I made a nice dinner last night but that's all we did for Valentines day. We never make a big deal out of it. We might go out to dinner either tonight or tomorrow night as we often do on the weekend

 

Have a great day. :)

[Cruisin Dave]

Good morning Cupids,

Heidi, Bettie and I had our first cruise on the Elation. In fact, it was so much fun we were back on her 5 months later. We will be arriving in NOLA on Friday and sailing Saturday on the Navigator of the Seas. We will then spend three nights in NOLA when we return. I have made reservations for Commanders Palace for the Sunday Jazz Brunch. Looking forward to it. Maybe John Goodman, who lives nearby, will drop in.:D

We had lunch yesterday at a local Tex-Mex restaurant. Great food and service.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Dave

[Flick]

Well we got another surprise last night at the Lodge. Not only was Kay nominated but she was elected on the spot! A few years ago when I was Exalted Ruler (CEO of the Lodge) I went to the National convention and was told "you may be ER but the secretary is GOD!" Anything and everything from money to slips of paper passes thru their hands first. Kay had a short stint as secretary before but hasn't been for two years and the whole computer system has changed so she has that to contend with. We also discovered last night that the former secretary (who replaced Kay for two years) was actually fired for incompetence by the State leadership. It is VERY RARE they would get involved so matters must be pretty bad. (To give you some idea of the importance of the job, she will be paid, not the ER!)

[momofzeke]

Morning, Cupids!

 

Heidi ~ glad you didn't have to work dinner on Valentine's day. That is crazy that the management decided to change the floor plan on THAT DAY! Someone must have been on a brain vacation!

 

Rick ~ congrats to Kay for her new elected position! Here in our town, we jokingly refer to the Exalted Ruler as the "Exhausted Rooster". :D Dave gave up his Elk membership though. It is something we just never participated in any more.

 

Well, apparently my dog is a squirrel hunter! We had only been walking 5 minutes yesterday when I looked over and she was trotting along with a dead squirrel in her mouth. She carried it for a while and then dropped it and we went on with our walk, walking for 1 1/2 miles, then turned around and came back. She always runs ahead of me on the way home, and sure enough, when I caught up to her at the house, there was Mr. Dead Squirrel on the back porch. :rolleyes: The squirrels that come up in my yard are in for a nasty surprise this year!! THIS dog isn't like Zeke, who would chase them but never really caught them very often. And my cat will be 5 years old this summer, and he only started figuring out squirrel hunting last year. The squirrels come in the yard and have a party, but this year the party won't last long, I have a feeling!

 

All the media coverage of the Triumph is kind of irritating to me. I know it was a terrible ordeal for the passengers, and I'm not making light of it at all. But I have seen a lot of people who were on the ship saying it was not pleasant, but that the staff & crew were phenomenal and that they made the best of a bad situation but never felt they were in danger or anything. Then you have the ones who are saying how they thought they were going to die and that they would never cruise again, etc. I'm sure there are varying degrees of difficulty, depending on where your cabin was located. Kind of sounds like if you had a balcony cabin, it wasn't as bad but if you were down in the lower cabins it was pretty stinky and awful. It's really too bad, and I feel terrible for all those people whose vacation was ruined. But it wasn't life-or-death and I think the media blows it way out of proportion and goes out of their way to find the very unhappy passengers for more of a sensationalist point of view.

 

I certainly won't let it sway my love of cruising! Won't be cancelling my cruise. The odds of something like that happening are so slim. I guess if you never want to take a chance that something bad might happen on a vacation, you would never fly or cruise or drive a car. If a bad thing happens in a car, it's inconvenient; if a bad thing happens on a cruise, you are uncomfortable or even miserable for a week; if a bad thing happens on an airplane, you have a good chance of dying! But I won't stop driving, cruising or flying because of that! But that's just me.......;)

[HeidiHo]

Good Afternoon!

 

All the media coverage of the Triumph is kind of irritating to me. I know it was a terrible ordeal for the passengers, and I'm not making light of it at all. But I have seen a lot of people who were on the ship saying it was not pleasant, but that the staff & crew were phenomenal and that they made the best of a bad situation but never felt they were in danger or anything. Then you have the ones who are saying how they thought they were going to die and that they would never cruise again, etc. I'm sure there are varying degrees of difficulty, depending on where your cabin was located. Kind of sounds like if you had a balcony cabin, it wasn't as bad but if you were down in the lower cabins it was pretty stinky and awful. It's really too bad, and I feel terrible for all those people whose vacation was ruined. But it wasn't life-or-death and I think the media blows it way out of proportion and goes out of their way to find the very unhappy passengers for more of a sensationalist point of view.

 

I certainly won't let it sway my love of cruising! Won't be cancelling my cruise. The odds of something like that happening are so slim. I guess if you never want to take a chance that something bad might happen on a vacation, you would never fly or cruise or drive a car. If a bad thing happens in a car, it's inconvenient; if a bad thing happens on a cruise, you are uncomfortable or even miserable for a week; if a bad thing happens on an airplane, you have a good chance of dying! But I won't stop driving, cruising or flying because of that! But that's just me.......;)

 

I agree Sue. I'm sure it was very unpleasant and I hope it never happens to me or anyone else ever again but $#!^ happens. They were inconvenienced for a few days but I can't help thinking about people in the world who actually live like this all the time. There are poor people in the world who are homeless and don't have any place to go to the bathroom and don't know when they'll have their next meal. Another thing that bugs me is the people who say that there seem to be more problems with Carnival Corp owned ships. Well, of course there are because CARNIVAL CORP OWNS HALF THE CRUISE SHIPS AFLOAT! Of course Carnival Corp is going to have more problems with ships than say, a cruise line that only owns 3 or 4 ships. I am not afraid to sail Carnival or any other cruise line.

 

I mentioned a couple of days ago that my sister and her husband were leaving for NOLA today for a cruise on Monday. She wasw really worried that they wouldn't make their connection at DFW because they only had 30 minutes. Well, I'm pretty sure they made it. I haven't heard from her but I checked on her flights and they landed early at DFW and there next flight was delayed by about 30 minutes.

 

We went out to dinner last night at Bonefish Grill. It was very good. We both had steak and a crab cake. Tonight I think we'll just stay in.

 

Have a good weekend. :)

[momofzeke]

I agree with everything you said, Heidi. It would totally suck to have your vacation ruined, but you are so right...think about all the people in the world who NEVER even get to go on a vacation! Or who are homeless or living in squalor all the time. I saw several posts of passengers who said the lines were very long for food, but if you waited until the rush was over you only had to wait maybe 20 minutes or so. Heck, I've waited in lines that long on all of my cruises for the lunch buffet!

 

Another beautiful day here! I can't imagine that winter is totally over, but I'm sure enjoying the sunshine and mild weather while it's here. It got up to mid-50's yesterday, and I was able to ditch my big heavy coat and wear a light windbreaker for our walk. A little windy, but not bad.

 

I'm in the process of searching for a vacation rental home for our Duck football weekends. I don't know why we didn't think of doing that before! We have always stayed at the same Best Western hotel, for the last 11 years of season tickets. Nice accomodations, and close enough to walk to the game. The rate was decent, raising maybe $5 per year then holding steady around $115 per night until last year when they raised it to $150 per night with a 2 night minimum and a 2 week cancellation policy instead of 24 hours. Now this year, the rate is up to $180 per night! Unfortunately, all the hotels in Eugene have raised their rates and are at least $180 or more. I guess that's the price we pay for having such success in the football program. But it still makes me mad. And, the service at the B.W. went WAY downhill last year! There is a new owner and it was NOT a good change.

 

So we will most likely rent a house and all 6 of us, plus the baby, can stay together. Instead of spending $400 per weekend per couple, we will spend $150 to $250 per weekend per couple, depending on which house we end up with. There are some very nice ones and it would be much more comfy anyway. So, SUCK IT, BEST WESTERN!! :mad::D

[Flick]

Sue I actually had an Exhausted Ruler Pin which I think I passed on to my successor when his time was over. I met a man today who said he had been an ER three times.....now there's a slooooow learner for you! I know there are ERs who go twice (in fact our present ER has just been elected to his second full term but really....... Of course I had the good fortune to have 201 members and the next morning wake up to 679 members compliments of Grand Lodge closing another Lodge close to mine and merging same into ours. That's enough to rattle any one's cage! That is also when Kay was secretary so talk about livin' and breathin' ELKs 24/7........

[Jeff90]

Hello!

 

Just found this thread and decided drop in to say hello!

 

We just booked this trip while on the Dream last week! Looking forward to all the stops and meeting new folks.

 

Still trying to get back to the normal, we had a fabulous time on the Dream last week. It was our first Carnival Ship and we were very happy. Looking forward to the Breeze and meeting you all.

 

Jeff from North Carolina. :)

[Cruisin Dave]

Hello!

 

Just found this thread and decided drop in to say hello!

 

We just booked this trip while on the Dream last week! Looking forward to all the stops and meeting new folks.

 

Still trying to get back to the normal, we had a fabulous time on the Dream last week. It was our first Carnival Ship and we were very happy. Looking forward to the Breeze and meeting you all.

 

Jeff from North Carolina. :)

 

Howdy Jeff,

Welcome to the Cupids. I'm Dave and my DW is Bettie. We are from Texas but I was raised in VA. I've spent quite a bit of time on the OBX and my brother has a place down there.

Dave

[HeidiHo]

Welcome aboard, Jeff! :)

[Flick]

Hi Jeff, Welcome...we've been chatting for almost half a year now so feel free to jump in on the chatter at will.