Royal Caribbean Cruisers -- How Are Things Where You Are? (was "Routine" ​ 😁 ​day in lockdown... how was yours?)

[Arzeena]

1 minute ago, helen haywood said:

Last night when we pulled into the garage we stayed in it…discussing how we could rearrange some stuff in order to have better room for the two Tahoes.  It’s called a “three car garage” but you could only get (maybe) three golf carts in it.  We’ve been switching cars and only garaging one.  But when Hurricane Idalia came through we realized we could squeeze both in…carefully.

 

We weren’t yelling or using raised voices…but we were having the usual marital conversation about how the junk, er, I mean useful cardboard boxes, old light fixtures, multiple ladders, etc could be better consolidated…when we heard this loud banging noise coming from inside our house.  What on earth?!?!

 

It was Minnie trying to get to us.  Hard to scold someone so devoted.  ❤️

 

 

Talking about garages, we have a two car garage (supposedly). After our Highlander, recycle, trash can, ladder brooms (not for flying😁) all I can fit in could be a small pink Barbie Car! Yet I have seen neighbors pack two cars in cheek to cheek....they must be staying inside those cars....I don't see any way they could open the car doors and get out!

Your kitties are really cute!

[helen haywood]

2 minutes ago, Arzeena said:

Your kitties are really cute!

Thanks!  (Said their proud valet.)

 

re garages…it’s fascinating to drive through our neighborhood and look in the garages.  Some look like pack rat nests…floor to ceiling, wall to wall…some are neatly arranged but still completely filled.  Since there are no tool sheds here a lot goes in the garages.  We have a yard service, if we didn’t then the mowers, blowers, sprayers, trimmers,  etc would all have to be inside the garage.

[cruiselvr04]

9 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

 

 

re garages…it’s fascinating to drive through our neighborhood and look in the garages.  Some look like pack rat nests…floor to ceiling, wall to wall…some are neatly arranged but still completely filled.  Since there are no tool sheds here a lot goes in the garages.  We have a yard service, if we didn’t then the mowers, blowers, sprayers, trimmers,  etc would all have to be inside the garage.

Many people in Texas use their garage for storage, probably because we have no basements and attic storage fries everything in the summer.  We see open garages filled to the brim all the time.  I don’t get it though.  If it’s that packed you probably haven’t used it in a long time and it’s time to say good bye.  Our garage holds both cars and a lot of junk I want the DH to pare down. Hopefully that will be a next year retirement project.  Having a yard service does cut down on all the stuff we store.

[George C]

12 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Many people in Texas use their garage for storage, probably because we have no basements and attic storage fries everything in the summer.  We see open garages filled to the brim all the time.  I don’t get it though.  If it’s that packed you probably haven’t used it in a long time and it’s time to say good bye.  Our garage holds both cars and a lot of junk I want the DH to pare down. Hopefully that will be a next year retirement project.  Having a yard service does cut down on all the stuff we store.

We have owned a house in Dallas for almost 30 years and I never mowed my yard , I pay 25 a week and they do a great job and are reliable 😁.

[TravelGirlinDallas]

38 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Many people in Texas use their garage for storage, probably because we have no basements and attic storage fries everything in the summer.  We see open garages filled to the brim all the time.  I don’t get it though.  

I don't get it, either. There are too many hailstorms here in TX to park outside. We have to precisely park both cars in exactly the right spots in order for them to fit in our barely 2-car garage, but we manage. Now, when Andrew starts driving in a couple of years and we have to add a 3rd car (he will get Brian's old CR-V and Brian will get a newer one), then he will have to park on the street. 
 

On the other hand, we have a storage shed in our yard and we pay for a small indoor storage unit elsewhere since we have no basement and our cars take up our garage space. 😂

[TravelGirlinDallas]

Andrew's final football game was last Friday. His season was not what he had hoped since he spent a month with his arm in a cast and didn't get to practice or play much during that time. But he still enjoyed the experience and is looking forward to next year.

 

Basketball tryouts were last week, and on Friday Andrew was notified that he made the team. They only took about half of the boys who tried out, so he didn't know what to expect. Basketball is his favorite sport to play, and he's had the most experience playing throughout the years. This will be his first time on his school team, though (athletics starts in 7th grade).

 

Here's his football portrait. He looks so different; I can't get over how much older he looks overnight. 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by TravelGirlinDallas

[lenquixote66]

3 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

 

@Luckynana Just to add to Lenny post, it's the same murder that takes place in 4 different time periods - 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053.  Very well done, I've watched 4 of the 8 episodes yesterday. 

 

Think of its a a crime drama first with some sci-fi time jumping thrown in, with a bit of political thriller on the side.

It is totally different from anything ever on tv before.

[lenquixote66]

2 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Andrew's final football game was last Friday. His season was not what he had hoped since he spent a month with his arm in a cast and didn't get to practice or play much during that time. But he still enjoyed the experience and is looking forward to next year.

 

Basketball tryouts were last week, and on Friday Andrew was notified that he made the team. They only took about half of the boys who tried out, so he didn't know what to expect. Basketball is his favorite sport to play, and he's had the most experience playing throughout the years. This will be his first time to on his school team, though (athletics starts in 7th grade).

 

Here's his football portrait. He looks so different; I can't get over how much older he looks overnight. 

 

Congratulations to this future pro athlete

[lenquixote66]

54 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Many people in Texas use their garage for storage, probably because we have no basements and attic storage fries everything in the summer.  We see open garages filled to the brim all the time.  I don’t get it though.  If it’s that packed you probably haven’t used it in a long time and it’s time to say good bye.  Our garage holds both cars and a lot of junk I want the DH to pare down. Hopefully that will be a next year retirement project.  Having a yard service does cut down on all the stuff we store.

Same thing where I live in NY..No basement ,garage solely for storage even though it is large enough for two cars.

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, Arzeena said:

Talking about garages, we have a two car garage (supposedly). After our Highlander, recycle, trash can, ladder brooms (not for flying😁) all I can fit in could be a small pink Barbie Car! Yet I have seen neighbors pack two cars in cheek to cheek....they must be staying inside those cars....I don't see any way they could open the car doors and get out!

Your kitties are really cute!

Very few people in my development use their garages for cars.In fact most people convert their garages into bedrooms because they are so large.I have the largest house and largest deck in the complex .

[voyager70]

@singinalot Crystal just wanted to express my sympathies as well for what you are going through and wish you nothing but happiness and peace moving on to the next chapter in your life.

 

[lenquixote66]

15 hours ago, Arzeena said:

OB,

I just read that your girl friend has officially become a billionaire. 😆

She also has 8 homes.That to me is unreal.One of my former neighbors has 3 homes.He and his wife live 4 months in each one.

[ATG]

1 hour ago, helen haywood said:

Thanks!  (Said their proud valet.)

 

re garages…it’s fascinating to drive through our neighborhood and look in the garages.  Some look like pack rat nests…floor to ceiling, wall to wall…some are neatly arranged but still completely filled.  Since there are no tool sheds here a lot goes in the garages.  We have a yard service, if we didn’t then the mowers, blowers, sprayers, trimmers,  etc would all have to be inside the garage.

Our neighbors have so much stuff in their garage that they have to unload the groceries before moving the car into the garage.

 

My favorite garage story.  When we moved to Atlanta our house had a “enclosed “ carport. The house was on 2 sides and the third side was a solid wall.  I guess it wasn’t a garage because it didn’t have a door, but I thought of it as a garage.  I called to get a quote on insurance.  I explained it was a garage but didn’t have a door.  There was a pause before she asked “then how do you get the car out?”.  I said “the same way we get it in”.

[helen haywood]

1 hour ago, cruiselvr04 said:

If it’s that packed you probably haven’t used it in a long time and it’s time to say good bye.  Our garage holds both cars and a lot of junk I want the DH to pare down. Hopefully that will be a next year retirement project.

Um, you are expressing the female perspective.  To a man, it doesn’t matter that you haven’t used it in a long time…you might need it tomorrow!!  Followed by the commandment:  never throw away a perfectly good fill-in-the-blank.

 

If you actually can persuade your DH to downsize his stuff…you are my hero.

[cruiselvr04]

7 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

Um, you are expressing the female perspective.  To a man, it doesn’t matter that you haven’t used it in a long time…you might need it tomorrow!!  Followed by the commandment:  never throw away a perfectly good fill-in-the-blank.

 

If you actually can persuade your DH to downsize his stuff…you are my hero.

Oh my goodness!  You are so right!  I refuse to battle but maybe a bribe of some kind…a new gizmo perhaps.  He’s been wanting a work table ....to put more stuff on.  LOL. 

[Arzeena]

13 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

Um, you are expressing the female perspective.  To a man, it doesn’t matter that you haven’t used it in a long time…you might need it tomorrow!!  Followed by the commandment:  never throw away a perfectly good fill-in-the-blank.

 

If you actually can persuade your DH to downsize his stuff…you are my hero.

When I was moving from NJ to FL, you cannot imagine how many of my donation bags were opened (behind my back) and stuff collected in a "I Think We May Need This in Florida " pile. 😨
I managed to put all back in the donation bag and tie it up, after saying OK dear.

[helen haywood]

If you have the space, it will be filled.  That’s another reason I’m so glad we downsized and moved.  Our previous house had two guest houses, a tool shed and a full sized former dairy barn.  DH found a way to fill them all…. (I really can’t talk as I had an over 400 square foot closet that I managed to fill…)

[Ozark_Kid]

Now that a ramp has been added we are down to a one car garage which is fine because we mainly only use our Highlander.   Our truck is now kept at my DD's house.

[reallyitsmema]

2 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Many people in Texas use their garage for storage, probably because we have no basements and attic storage fries everything in the summer.  We see open garages filled to the brim all the time.  I don’t get it though.  If it’s that packed you probably haven’t used it in a long time and it’s time to say good bye.  Our garage holds both cars and a lot of junk I want the DH to pare down. Hopefully that will be a next year retirement project.  Having a yard service does cut down on all the stuff we store.

 

We have never put a car in our garage.  We have a one car garage that is about a foot off of a four to five foot high curved stone wall that borders our steep driveway.  At the time we bought the house, we had two large vehicles that would have been a beast to get in and out of the garage with two other vehicles in the driveway, so we never tried.  We keep our snow blowers, lawn mower, bikes, yard stuff, camping stuff etc in the garage.

[ReneeFLL]

On 10/28/2023 at 4:06 PM, Ozark_Kid said:

Great News!!!

We were assigned our balcony room this week for the upcoming Icon cruise 🛳.   It was a great ovb with a large balcony, C3, on Deck 7 but we had concern if an electric wheelchair would fit.  

Yesterday our Great TA found us an accessible room on Deck 12 not far from the elevators.  No more concern!

BTW, what is cool about the elevators, there is a large circular area where 12 elevators open.  So when waiting you have access to 12 different elevators.  

I’m so happy that you got a great accessible cabin.

 

On 10/29/2023 at 1:04 AM, akcruz said:

I think I shared somewhere here on CC but adding for this post, our 36th anniversary was earlier this week.  We try to do something each year and this year was a trip back to Charleston and the local area. 

 

We stayed downtown, right across from the market, for 1 night then went across the bay to Mount Pleasant, much more reasonable and on the marsh, for another few nights.  We have been to Charleston before so have done most of tours so this time was wandering around, shopping, eating, and drinking so nit too many pictures.

 

The next few days we bopperd around to Folly Beach, Sullivan's Island, visited the Angel Oak a 400 year old hugh living oak, the USS Yorktown a retired navy vessel and stopped to tour Boone Plantation on the way back home.  

 

Great few days where the weather cooperated beautifully.  Lots of great places, here are a few pictures from 36 years ago and this past week.

 

 

On our anniversary in front of the Pineapple fountain in Charleston

 

The pineapple fountain without the distraction

 

The pink houses in the French district 

 

We had dinner at a restaurant called Church and Union, for anyone who the book The Art of War, the entire book is written on the ceiling.  Your bill is then out into the book, it's fairly short, where you can add notes etc the book.  Interesting place.  Lots of great restaurants in Charleston.

 

Angel Oak, not quite like Maui but quite large and still growing

 

 

 

 

Didn't take many pictures on the Yorktown.  Just this of a Blue Angel plane on the deck overlooking the bridge

 

And one of my daily, sshh, Bloody Mary's, this was the best at Poe's on Sullivan's Island.

 

The entry to Boone Plantation, gorgeous

 

The main house

 

A few shots from the Shem's Creek area, beautiful spot to what the sunset

 

Looking out towards the bay, hotel to the right lots of restaurants along both sides, Charleston across the bay.

 

 

A few of the shrimp boats, the creek is lined with them

 

 

Sunset

 

Found a feathered friend on the walk though the marsh, pictures don't do it justice.

 

 

 

Happy Anniversary and beautiful pictures.

[ReneeFLL]

On 10/28/2023 at 6:44 PM, Ocean Boy said:

Jade has decided to come out an explore the deck. The world outside of the house is very new to her.

 

 

 

 

Mike loves the pictures of Jade as do I.

[jagsfan]

Hi, everybody!

I’m back out of the rabbit hole!

We enjoyed our Bermuda cruise on Mariner, and am so glad we finally made it. 
It was an eye opener. 

Our guide took us everywhere, and was a fountain of information. 
If anyone is looking for a good one, his name is Millard Lightbourne, and the email is his daughter’s…millarda@northrockbm. 
Tell her Mimi sent you.
Your reply will be from Gizell. 
I don’t remember, actually, if I’ve posted since then!

Just before the cruise, I had gotten a text saying the test results from an MRI were available on the hospital portal. 
Fool that I am, I went into the portal and the first words I saw were Diagnosis Pancreatic Cancer. My oncologist’s appointment was Oct 11, so I kept the news to myself so as not to spoil Dick’s enjoyment of the cruise. 
two days after the cruise, I tested positive for COVID. Canceled everything on my calendar and changed my appointment to Oct 27. 
I can tell you it was hard to act totally normal while wondering if I would/could have chemo, radiation, or both. 
Well, my oncologist greeted me with a smile, and said she had the results. I said I had read them and saw Pancreatic Cancer. 
Dr K said MRIs can’t tell malignant cells from benign. 

She also said chemo and radiation wouldn’t have been an option, only surgery. 
She said the spots on my lungs and on my pancreas have been stable for two years and she expects them to stay that way. 
I should have asked @Ocean Boy about those results instead of worrying myself sick!

So a CTscan on my lungs in 6 months and another pelvic  MRI in 12. 
I live to cruise another day!

[helen haywood]

I was going to say!!  You need another cruise to make up for the one you worried through!!

[cruiselvr04]

37 minutes ago, jagsfan said:

Hi, everybody!

I’m back out of the rabbit hole!

We enjoyed our Bermuda cruise on Mariner, and am so glad we finally made it. 
It was an eye opener. 

Our guide took us everywhere, and was a fountain of information. 
If anyone is looking for a good one, his name is Millard Lightbourne, and the email is his daughter’s…millarda@northrockbm. 
Tell her Mimi sent you.
Your reply will be from Gizell. 
I don’t remember, actually, if I’ve posted since then!

Just before the cruise, I had gotten a text saying the test results from an MRI were available on the hospital portal. 
Fool that I am, I went into the portal and the first words I saw were Diagnosis Pancreatic Cancer. My oncologist’s appointment was Oct 11, so I kept the news to myself so as not to spoil Dick’s enjoyment of the cruise. 
two days after the cruise, I tested positive for COVID. Canceled everything on my calendar and changed my appointment to Oct 27. 
I can tell you it was hard to act totally normal while wondering if I would/could have chemo, radiation, or both. 
Well, my oncologist greeted me with a smile, and said she had the results. I said I had read them and saw Pancreatic Cancer. 
Dr K said MRIs can’t tell malignant cells from benign. 

She also said chemo and radiation wouldn’t have been an option, only surgery. 
She said the spots on my lungs and on my pancreas have been stable for two years and she expects them to stay that way. 
I should have asked @Ocean Boy about those results instead of worrying myself sick!

So a CTscan on my lungs in 6 months and another pelvic  MRI in 12. 
I live to cruise another day!

I have had MRIs like that since my cancer diagnosis.  Mine are every 6 months and next month is the month.  The waiting for a week or 2 to see the doctor after can be agonizing. But in the meantime we are making final payments and going on with life. Scanxiety is what I call it.  I share with the DH because he keeps me centered and optimistic. 
 

Very happy for you! 

[h20skibum]

2 hours ago, ATG said:

Our neighbors have so much stuff in their garage that they have to unload the groceries before moving the car into the garage.

We almost had that situation recently.  After I fixed the corner of the wall that Susan introduced the car to, she decided she wanted a nice, big shoe rack in that corner.   So I got a big one that was pretty tall. Backed the SUV in, started to open the rear hatch, and there wasn’t enough room to clear the new shoe rack.  Then it was a matter of finding the sweet spot where the rear hatch would open and the garage door would close.  It works now, but with only 2” clearance at the door and at the rack.  She hasn’t tried to back that one in yet.  
 

oh, and we have two SUVs, our boat, gas grill, table saw, radial saw, and a fridge in our garage too.  Good thing I have a two level storage barn for our other outdoor things.