good intentions and a whole bunch of other random stuff

how's that for a post title?
Good Intentions: I often utter the words "the road to hell was paved with good intentions" when I hear anyone say they had intended on doing something as some sort of excuse for not doing said thing. And this is why: It's true. Intentions mean nothing in reality.

• I had great intentions for this blog while I was away.
• I had intended on blogging the entire time I was on my little vacay; I wanted to blog every day in March.
• I had intended on writing a couple of reviews for the 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge during my time away.
• I had intended on reading three or four books for the same challenge.
• I had intended on documenting each day with pictures, capturing each day forever.

And here I am at the end of my vacay. Wow. Not one thing achieved. I am So behind! Ha!

The only thing I can think of in my new found mellow relaxed and rejuvenated state is: Oh well. I had intended on so much that of course I couldn't achieve it. I mean, I had to factor in actually doing things on this vacay (it was a conference for my husband's job, there was stuff to do!) and then I had to add on the klutzy eff-ups that are so my style.

My hurdles included:

• 
  
  the fact that we had 150 minutes of free wi-fi for the entire week, after which you are charged seventy-five cents PER minute. So there was that. Add in the fact that the connection was dial-up speed at best, making it impossible to even access my webmail or twitter, and you will find my laptop closed most of the time.
• 
  
  the fact that I forgot the camera cord at home and failed to borrow one from the 47 other people who had the same camera with them.
• 
  
  the fun. There was too much fun to be had to be toting my camera around every second. I got about 100 pictures. Total. Yah. So, I'll get copies from my new-found friends. Done and Done.

Ok, enough about what I didn't do the last week or so, how about I share some of what I did do? That sounds way more fun.

1. I attended my first annual national association conference; my husband works for the association - he was working and hosting, I was his spouse, vacationing.
2. I got to know 798 of my husband's amazing co-workers, colleagues and professional peers/families from every region of Canada. He had said it was like a family. He did not lie.
3. I went on my first cruise. The conference was on the ship; we had the entire boat. Yah.
4. I visited 4 new places on the globe I had never been before. (Fort Lauderdale; Florida, Georgetown; Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios; Jamaica and Nassau: Bahamas.) And the ocean, I got to see a lot of the broad beautiful blue ocean.
5. I left my passport and boarding pass in the bathroom at OTHER END of the Toronto Airport in between flights on the way there. I lost my passport in between the aisle and my seat on our final flight home, only finding it when we landed, in the overhead bin with someone else's luggage. #fail #typical
6. I ate like a queen, slept like a well fed baby, and pretty much ate drank and hung out on the upper deck lounge (near all the buffets!) to my heart's content. #win
7. Did not get seasick. But I didn't really leave any room for that to happen since I had the seasickness patch on behind my ear the entire time. It was awesome.
8. I was aware of the ship's movement and I times it did freak me out or make me a bit dizzy. Sitting was worse than standing, but it was no problem sleeping and was kinda cool being rocked to sleep. Most times it was hard to discern between the gravol haze, the few drinks in me and the movement of the ship. I found that by day 2 you just go with it. Everyone staggers, nobody judges.
9. I swam in the ocean in the Caymans and Bahamas.
10. I grew to like unsweetened iced tea.
11. I ate multiple small meals each day. it was awesome. i miss it ALL.
12. I got sunburned in Fort Lauderdale, the Caymans, wore a long sleeved shirt in Jamaica and the Bahamas and am peeling like an idiot as we speak. dammit.
13. I drank Caesar's in the morning (they knew we were Canadian, so they had the bar stocked with Mott's & celery salt), about 700 gallons of water, and some really great cafe au lait from the 24 hour coffee machines.
14. I ate 4 course meals and simply stood up at the end and walked out of the restaurant without signing, paying, tipping, nothing.
15. I pet stingrays in the Bahamas. They feel like velvety mushrooms. I didn't expect them to have eyes and it freaked me out when I first snorkeled down. I didn't expect one to turn and put my fingers in it's weird little gummy mouth either. Zoiks. That was enough for me. Experience complete, check.
16. I ordered 24 hour room service. It was awesome.
17. I experienced luxury. Did I mention that yet? As we collected our luggage there were jokes about starting an online support community for us all.We are ruined. No one wanted to go home. Everyone raved about the cruise.
18. I gambled at sea in the casino. I played blackjack. I got 21 a couple of times. The dealer was impressed when I told him to give me a red jack for my ace, and he did. I lost $25 at the end of the night. It was fun.
19. I swam in the pool while we were at sea. Weird. In water, on water.
20. I sat in the hot tub laying back and looking up at different stars, at a crescent moon that hugged the bottom of the moon, not like the side crescent we see here. Weird. I sat in hot water, in warm air, over cold water. Weird.
21. I met and hung out with Devon Harris, an amazing speaker. You might know him from his Olympic days as a member of the Jamaican bobsled team. He was a keynote at the conference so he was on the ship with us. He has an amazing foundation helping kids back in his hometown in Kingston Jamaica. He can dance. He was a tonne of fun.
22. Did I mention the dancing under the stars during Theme Night? It was Jamaica night, and it was a blast. I usually roll my eyes at that type of thing, I won't lie. But it was a riot. To see the chairmen in their rasta hats with fake dreads was awesome. There was much tequila consumed by my husband. (He had early morning (7am) meetings most days, ouch) The band played, we danced to 80's tunes and it was pure fun. Whodda thunk?! #awesome

So that about summarizes much of what went down the last week or so. It was amazing. It was like a camp on a boat. Everyone knew each other and wore name badges, so it was really easy to feel at home quite quickly. Life is good.

♥ leel

ps. the tulips are up!

pps. my uncle jj cleaned our entire house and raked our front yard while we were gone. I know! Don't hate me.

ppps. pictures tomorrow!