Forever Young

My friend, Tree, called me one day last week to invite me to Sunday's Rod Stewart/Stevie Nicks concert in downtown Detroit. Tree does a lot of work with Joe Louis Arena and was given some complimentary tickets. I am so glad that she thought of me when deciding who to bring to the concert because it was awesome. Really awesome. Stevie is still a beauty and Rod has more energy than most guys half his age. The two sang exquisitely and put on quite a show.

Tree and I found this sign to be hilarious! Each girl in our group took a turn holding it, snapping a picture, then texing the photo to her husband. I was amazed that - as technologically incompetent as I am - I was somehow able to transfer the shot from my phone to my computer.

Plateau

Back in November, I became aghast at how much I weighed and decided to do something about it. The week before Thanksgiving I started riding my exercise bike for 30 minutes a day, at least six days a week. The bike sits in front of our upstairs tv and, although I usually find any sort of exercise incredibly mundane, I eagerly hop on and pedal away while watching something on the tube. I was pumped and motivated when I lost 10 pounds before Christmas and was certain that if I continued my routine, I would easily drop another 10 in the next six weeks or so. January came and went and my weight stayed the same. Jacob and I went to Texas in February and the weather was so nice that I was able to walk or bike outside every day. At the end of February I had not lost any more weight. March. Still not a pound. A week into April. I am very frustrated. Jim - always full of diet and exercise advice for me - tells me that I have to "take it up a notch." I guess I'll start riding for 45 minutes a day to see what happens. But, UGH! Working out is so much more exciting when you actually see results.

Side note: Even though I have failed miserably with my weight loss efforts since December, my blood pressure and cholesterol numbers have both dropped dramatically in the past four months. A bonus benefit of regular exercise, I suppose.

The Grass is Always Greener . . .

When we were in Texas last month, flowers were blooming, trees were green, and grass had to be mowed. Many of our neighbors were already using their air conditioners back in February - which I found to be weird because the weather was perfect for opening windows & enjoying the fresh air. In our 17 months as southern homeowners, one thing we have learned is that people in Houston do not open the windows of their homes. Ever. In Michigan, after enduring cool autumns and downright frigid winters, we look forward to any hint of spring and fling our windows open as soon as the outside temperatures reach 60 or so. And, unless it is over 85 degrees and we need our air on, we keep our windows open through September.

So, it was nice to be able to work in the yard in Texas. In February & March. Wearing shorts. Now I am eager to tend to our tiny garden at the condo. I plan to plant a shrub or two and prepare a new area for my flowers. Unfortunately, the average last frost in southeast Michigan is not until late May, so my annuals will have to wait another 6 or 7 weeks to be planted. The ground is not too frozen anymore, but it is still a bit cold to work in the dirt. Besides, it is supposed to snow tonight! Only an inch or so, but snow nevertheless. I am kind of excited and hope that we get even more of the white stuff than predicted, although most folks around here do not share my enthusiasm. If it is going to be cold and look dreary, I would just as soon see the brown grass covered with pretty white snow.

Ship to Shore

When we disembarked from our cruise ship in New Orleans last Sunday, we had 4 or 5 hours to spare before we had to drop Adam and Richie off at the airport. Since our car was still in the week-long pre-paid parking garage, we simply stowed our luggage in it and walked to the "Aquarium of the Americas." It was a great place to spend a couple of hours.

Jim, Jacob, and I returned to Houston to find a pool full of seeds that had fallen from our annoyingly large Live Southern Oak trees and a creepy, dead critter carcass in the yard. The temperatures in Texas were very warm - hot actually - but the three of us were only there to enjoy them for a few days. On Thursday, we headed back to Michigan where the low temperature dipped to 18 degrees - about 65 degrees cooler than the lovely high we had just experienced down south. Brrrr!

The kiddie area was awesome on our ship. We had no use for it, other than standing over it and admiring the beautiful blue wake.

Jacob liked the ship's driving range. Jim offered him some unsolicited advice.

Some cute penguins at the aquarium. They were very playful and animated.

Check out the schnoz on this guy at the aquarium!

I think it was a squirrel that met its demise on our deck.

Every spring we get zillions of these seeds in our pool. Luckily, the seed season only lasts about a month. This particular batch gathered only an hour after I had skimmed the water.

Vacation Photos

Here are some pictures taken on our cruise last week. We stopped at Costa Maya, Mexico, Belize City, Belize, Roatan, Honduras, and Cozumel, Mexico.

Our pretty ship. Go away clouds!

The iguanas apparently grow to be quite large in Central America. And I thought the critters in Texas were big!

One of our cute towel animals - was it a dog or a pig?

Jacob hung out on his balcony on a day at sea.

Adam found a place to catch a few zzzzzs.

A view of Mahogany Bay from our balcony at Roatan, Honduras.

Flamingos and Scarlet Macaws were right out in the open.

Jake, Jim, and Adam floated down an underground river. I wouldn't go because I thought the water would be too cold. I now wish I wouldn't have been so wimpy.

Jacob and Jim posed at a beautiful beach.

I finally saw a manatee! Two actually, but they would never swim near each other. The photo does not do this guy justice - he was huge!

Relaxing at our palapa (little hut with thatched roof) near Cozumel. We ate authentic Mexican nachos and drank Coronas.

Rolling Down the River

It is 12:45 a.m. and we are currently entering the mouth of the Mississippi River enroute to the port of New Orleans. It will take our ship 6 or 7 hours to chug up the river. I can't believe that our cruise is almost over. We had a great week and it definitely went by too fast. I had every intention of posting photos tonight, but the internet on the ship had other ideas. Service is terribly s-l-o-w, so the pictures will have to wait until we arrive back in Houston.

Cruisin'

Jim, Adam, Jacob, Richie, and I arrived in New Orleans on Sunday, eager and excited to start our week-long cruise. Unfortunately, our ship was delayed getting to the port due to the medical evacuation of a passenger on the inbound cruise. The ship had to divert off course to meet up with a Coast Guard helicopter from Key West, then it experienced engine problems as it tried to make up the lost time en route to Louisiana. Norwegian Cruise Lines did call to inform us of the change in schedule, but the day ended up being very long and, when all was said and done, we walked onto the ship about nine hours after we had anticipated.

Monday started off on a happier note, as we were at sea and enjoying everything that our ship had to offer. We ate, went to a magic show, ate, played ping-pong, ate, played shuffleboard, ate, sunned, ate, drank, ate, saw a Broadway show, and ate some more. On Tuesday we docked in Mexico, albeit quite a bit later than scheduled. Besides spending the day eating and going to shows, we also went ashore for a while. Jim and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary that day and our waiter at dinner sang "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" to us and gave us a small cake. Since we were already eating desserts, he offered to have it delivered to our cabin so we could enjoy it later. Well, the cake never arrived and we joked that the waiters tell every couple the same story, then just use the same cake over and over again. With all the food at our disposal, we didn't really mind losing our cake, even though it did look delicious and we all had a running debate going over what flavor it was.

On Wednesday, our ship anchored off Belize City. We hired a driver to take us to see the Belize Wildlife Sanctuary and show us around the area. It was an interesting port, yet very poor and quite run-down. We were happy to spend our tourist dollars there to support their troubled economy. Our tour guide was a 60-ish, knowledgeable man who actually was an old buddy & former schoolmate of the current Prime Minister of Belize. Talk about having friends in high places!

On Thursday we will be in Roatan, Honduras, where we intend to just relax in the port area and hang out on the ship. We have an all-day shore excursion planned for Friday in Cozumel, so it will be nice to take the day off Thursday to bum around. Our weather has been great - well if you consider 80s and humidity to be great. (I do!) We lost a few dollars in the casino this evening, and are off now to watch a late-night comedy show. I have taken lots of pictures and will post some when I update next.

Spring Break

Next week is Spring Break from school and we are hitting the high seas. Adam is flying from Denver to join us in Houston on Saturday, and with his recent overwhelming academic workload, it sounds as if a vacation is just what he needs. On Sunday morning, the four of us will drive to New Orleans, pick up Richie from the airport there, and board a ship. Among other things, I will not have to cook a single meal for anyone for seven whole days! Jim and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary while on the cruise. I will try to post some pictures during the week, but with the high price of shipboard internet - and the slow service provided - I will be happy if I am able to update even once. We will be traveling to several ports that we have never visited before, so I will be taking lots of photos that I can share after we return home.

Did I mention that I won't have to cook any meals for seven whole days?

Rodeo

Tree and Emily flew to Texas on Friday for a long weekend visit. After 10 days of sunshine and temperatures in the 70s, the weather turned rather bleak as soon as their plane landed in Houston. We had planned to spend some time sunning at the beach that afternoon, but found thick fog and chilly temps in Galveston. Jim fired up our hot tub in the evening and we really enjoyed our soak in there - until the electricity went out. We had tickets to the Houston Rodeo for Saturday, so we weren't too disappointed that the forecast called for thunderstorms and a cold front that day since the festivities were held indoors. This was the first rodeo that any of us had been to and we didn't know quite what to expect. The price of the admission included all of the exhibitions, shows & events, an actual rodeo competition, and a concert. We had a blast and can't wait to return next year.

We walked through a huge convention center filled with vendors and livestock. And rope makers. The building was a bit stinky.

After the bull riders were bucked off their animals, the wild critters had to be lured back into their pens by some apparently non-intimidated rodeo clowns.

The cutest and most interesting rodeo event was the "Mutton Bustin'." Five and six year old children competed to see how long they could ride on the back of a running sheep.

This little cowboy made it a long way before falling off. Luckily, none of the children were ever trampled by the sheep.

Miracle Grow

We spent the weekend at our house in Texas clearing dead plants and leaves from our yard. The Houston area had a "harsh" January, with many consecutive days in the mid 20s. As a result, a number of our more delicate tropical trees & bushes bit the dust, including one of our beautiful 12-foot-tall palms. Our neighbors had informed us last year that the winter of '09-'10 was unusually severe, and we wouldn't see temperatures that low again for a decade. Oddly, the winter of '10-'11 proved to be just as cold.

Late February in south Texas is like late May in Michigan. The daytime temperatures are finally warm and people are out working on their yards, planting flowers, etc. Since our banana trees once again fell victim to some freezing weather, we cut back their trunks, hoping that they would regrow as they did last year. Imagine our shock when, only an hour after chopping them down on Saturday, new sprouts already began to shoot up. If they keep flourishing at this rate - an inch or two a day - the banana trees will be 15 feet tall by the time summer even starts. There are some real advantages to a long growing season!

We couldn't believe how quickly these new banana shoots shot up out of the cut-down trunks.

Along the Road

Jim, Jacob, and I hit the road on Sunday morning to drive to Texas. If you ever need to know when the next winter storm will bear down on Michigan, just find out the date we are planning a road trip into or out of the state. Inevitably, the weather will be nasty that day. Fortunately, we were able to beat the latest snow storm, and were cruising hundreds of miles south of Detroit in balmy temperatures before the precipitation even began up there.

Our drive was fairly uneventful - which was a good thing. We stopped for the night near Little Rock, where the area has recently been hit with a "swarm" of small earthquakes. I thought that, after visiting many quake-prone states in the past, it would be pretty funny to feel my first earthquake in Arkansas. Even though there were actually 12 tiny tremors while we were at our hotel overnight, I never even felt a quiver.

Once in Texas on Monday, I was, as usual, on the lookout for interesting things. I was not disappointed. First, we passed a hobo-type man walking on the shoulder of the road pulling an 8-foot-tall cross on wheels. Next, we saw a 20-foot-high statue made completely from flower pots. Later, we were surprised to come across a large group of people on horseback clomping along the highway, escorted by the police with a sign that read "Old Spanish Trail Ride." We later learned that over 3,000 riders are currently en route to southeast Texas to participate in the annual "Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo."

The weather in Houston was absolutely beautiful today. While the northern girl in me loves the snow, I must say that I really enjoyed puttering in my yard this afternoon with the 76 degree sun warming my face. In February! At one point, I checked the temperatures in both Michigan and Texas, and it was 56 degrees warmer at our Houston house. I wore a t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops, which is standard garb for here, but unheard of this time of year up north.