Cruisin' in the Caribbean

We didn't really tell many people we were going; we just went. It all began last April when I attended a national principals' conference in Nashville. John had a ticket to come with me, but because of work couldn't come. We had an airline credit we had to use by October 24 so of course we had to plan a trip. Yes, we had to spend money to save money. We didn't decide where we were going until a few weeks before we left.

We flew out Wednesday night, October 8, at midnight, to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. We boarded Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas ship about noon on Thursday. We were tired from little or no sleep on the plane the night before so Johnny had a nap on the pool deck while we waited for the ship to sail.

We set sail about 5 p.m. By the time we went to bed at 11 p.m. that night, we were exhausted! The ship docked in Key West, Florida the next morning about 7 a.m. We opened our eyes at 10 a.m. As most of you know, I have major sleeping issues so 11 hours of sleep was a miracle to me. I haven't slept that much since high school.

We got off the ship and went to an Art Gallery. They had an incredible 25 feet 3D replica of American Gothic. The main art display inside was 3D icons. Very cool.
Our next stop was the Mel Fisher Museum. Mel Fisher was a diver who discovered the wreckage of several ships from the 1600s & 1700s. He discovered quite a bit of gold, silver, and other treasures. Very interesting. Here's Johnny with the silver bars:

That night was the formal night for dinner. I never went to prom, so this is my formal dance photo. You gotta love a man in a tux!

The next day we docked in Cozumel, Mexico. We had signed up for an ATV jungle ride. It was cloudy when we started, but soon it was pouring down rain. We were riding through deep puddles, soaked and muddy. We saw a Mayan water hole, and some other stuff. I just remember how fun it was to blast through the puddles. Here's my dry, before shot:

Ride, Johnny, ride.

Here's the post, mud-soaked photo. We threw our shirts away when we got back to the ship - there was no hope for them to ever be clean again.

After the ATV ride, they took us to a private beach. John soaked in some sun and tried to dry out while I went snorkeling. I saw some super cool fish, a very small blue shark, and great corral. The next day we spent "at sea." We laid out in the sun and relaxed for some much-needed down time.

They assign you a table for dinner so we sat with the same couple every night. They were from Long Island, New York and were both educators. We got along well. Our head waiter (standing next to me) was Sayit from Turkey and our assistant waiter (next to Johnny) was Eddie from India. Very nice guys.

Each night when we went back to our room, our "stateroom attendant" had a different animal made from towels on our bed. The last night it was wearing John's sunglasses. Very cute.
The ship got back to Ft. Lauderdale Monday morning. We got home about 9:30 that night to find our house at 59 degrees. Apparently we had missed a snow storm while we were gone. Brrr. As always, it's good to go, good to be home.

My boy Johnny

So, Johnny and I have been checking out everyone's blogs and it seems that most of our friends have new babies which are often the focus of their blog. Since today is Johnny's 45th birthday, and he's my "babe," I'd like to take a moment to focus on him. I love him, everything about him. He's funny and kind, a great dad and husband, Scout Master extraordinaire, just to name a few. He gets up in the middle of the night or close to it (4:30 a.m.) so he can go to the gym. He's definitely in better shape than most men younger than him. His handyman skills are incredible. He's finishing our basement and he has done it all - frame, wire, plumb, insulate, sheetrock, texture, finish work, paint. And don't forget about the outside work - concrete, landscape, etc. He's an animal on any kind of bike - road or mountain. He's pretty amazing.

As far as aging gracefully, he's not too happy to find the occasional white hair that might pop up so he pulls it out. (If I did that, I'd be bald - been coloring my hair for years.) The hardest thing has been losing his "close-up" vision. His arms just aren't long enough to hold the papers he needs to read. It makes me laugh.

Photo explanations:
Last weekend he earned his Woodbadge beads, a big thing for Scout Masters. He earned them by attending a week long training during the summer and then working on different goals for the past 3 months. Way to go!

Check out the close-up on his hand. That's some serious Scout dirt. Johnny wearing his new Woodbadge beads proudly.

So even though he's a vision of health, two days ago he had surgery for the 7th time since we've been married. He keeps having his throat stretched so he doesn't choke on food. We've had to take him to the ER twice in the last year because he's gotten food caught in his throat (don't worry, he can still breathe). So, his doctor decided to do it more often - 4 times in the last 3 months. The doctor puts a tube down his throat with a balloon attached to the end and fills it up with air to expand his esophagus. Hopefully this will be the last surgery for awhile.

Doesn't he look peaceful? What you can't see are the 4 needle pricks in his arm where he let the BYU nursing student practice. What a good sport.

Happy Birthday Johnny - you're the best thing that's ever happened to me!