Almost done!

I am a mere six working days away from starting my final weeks of vacation.  I officially retire at the end of January 2019.

No decision has been made yet as to whether I will resurrect this blog or continue with the new one.  Or perhaps I'll post in both...that's not likely as I'm far too lazy for that!  I expect if I choose not to post here, I'll post a link to the new blog to allow those who once followed to do so again.

It's been nearly two years since I mostly discontinued posting here, and a lot has changed in my personal and my work life.  The absolutely best was the birth of my grandson, pictured here on Halloween.  This little boy has brought joy beyond measure into my life.  He is definitely the apple of my eye, smart, cute, and downright adorable.

As I've noted, my employment is nearing an end. However, even beyond my retirement I am subject to conditions which do not permit any disclosure regarding the workplace.  Suffice to say, the last two years have not been easy for me as I have been under continual scrutiny by those who would wish me ill will.  Enough of that...in mere days they will be behind me.

My next few months will be busy with vacations, three planned cruises, and holidays (Christmas and New Year's), and a very special event, my grandson's second birthday.  Life is good!

To those of you in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you are surrounded by loving family and friends as you celebrate.  To all others, thanks for being part of my journey.  I will be back, in one form or another.

On vacation!

Life is a beach!  Cocoa Beach that is. :)  I arrived here on Wednesday after three flights and 5 hours of layover.  I had set two alarms to be sure I wouldn't sleep in, and of course, I woke 5 minutes before the alarm went off!

I was at the Regina airport by 4:30, checked in and through security shortly thereafter and was relaxing with a cup of Timmy's coffee by 4:45.  Hurry up and wait!  Our flight was scheduled for take-off at 6:30 but by the time we loaded and de-iced it was closer to 7.  But obviously we had a tail wind as we arrived in Toronto right on schedule. I slept much of the way there; grateful for that as I knew I had a long day ahead of me.

I had about 2 hours in TO, but in reality by the time we deplaned, and I made my way through Customs I arrived at my gate just 40 minutes prior to take-off.  This time we were early though and it was less than 30 minutes before we were flying off to New York.  We were off at gate D8, and my new gate was D9 so I had very little distance to go.  

By this point it was nearly 1 p.m. at home (2 p.m. local) so I was very hungry.  I wandered about and found Harry's Deli where I purchased a half a turkey & Swiss sandwich with a bowl of cheese and broccoli soup.  Both portions were huge!  So I ate half the sandwich, finished most of the soup, and tucked the other half sandwich in my bag for later.  I highly recommend the place - the sandwich was freshly made, the turkey was real shredded white meat (not turkey roll) and the soup was heavenly.  

We boarded our flight on time and I found I'd been upgraded...not to first class but to the next best thing, Comfort Plus.  I don't believe there was much more leg room, but the seat itself was very comfy.  Since I'm only 5'2" it was perfect for me.  I had a really great seatmate, a young man who writes for an adventure website.  Hearing about his adventures was wonderful - he'd just experiences snow in Vermont for only the fourth time in his life.  He was interested in hearing about my travels as well so the two hour flight flew by.

We arrived in Orlando a half hour ahead of schedule, I'd found my baggage and called the transportation company by 8:30 p.m.  My driver was obviously on his way (he had checked my flight number) and was there in 10 minutes.  I was prepared for a wait of up to an hour so was thrilled.  The drive from the airport to Cocoa Beach was about 45 minutes.  He offered to take me the scenic route but I was ready to get to the hotel...besides which it was dark and there was heavy sea fog in the area so not much to see.

Check-in was a breeze and I was in my room by 9:30. I was glad I had my sandwich as I didn't feel like wandering about in the dark.  I watched a bit of the Olympics and turned in by 11.  I had a great night sleep and woke ready for adventure on Thursday. 

The hotel (Comfort Inn and Suites, Cocoa Beach) offers a full complimentary breakfast including sausage, scrambled eggs, waffles, bagels, yoghurt, cereal, toast, fruit, juice and coffee.  I hadn't realized it, so it was a nice treat!  After breakfast, I went to the front desk as my safe wasn't working properly - it seemed the batteries were dead.  The maintenance man was right there but after fiddling with it for awhile he ended up taking it out of the room to fix.  I watched the Olympics and read while I waited for him to return.  He finally showed up about 9:30 with a new safe.  

I had been planning to try to catch a shuttle to Kennedy Space Center but assumed I would miss it, as it was scheduled for 9:30 a.m.  I wandered down to the lobby to call to book for Friday.  Frank answered the phone and told me he was right outside the doors as he'd had a request for pickup of 4 people but they hadn't showed!  Serendipity at its best.  For $30 round-trip he drove me to and from the park.  On the way there he gave a number of suggestions of what to see and do while I was there.

There will be no pictures with this post as I have no access on this computer to permit me to share.  I'll share those when I return home.  I had a great day though!  The Kennedy Space Center has lots to see, lots of exhibits and a full IMAX theater.  I also took the bus tour that drives the tourists through the NASA and private companies buildings.  There are two companies currently working on space exploration; Blue Origin and Space-X.  We drove past the two launch pads 39A and 39B but both were obscured by fog...not much to see there.  We were dropped off at the Saturn exhibit hall where we could spend as much time as we liked.  I went through it in about an hour and headed back to the bus.  

Back at the park, I wandered through the Atlantis exhibits before grabbing a cold drink and taking a seat in the shade at the Rocket Cafe. By this time it was nearly 3:30 p.m. so I gave Frank a call and asked for a pick-up.  He advised he'd be there by 4 p.m.  Since I had a bit of time, I took a tour of the Rocket Garden before heading to the parking lot for pick-up.  

I could have spent more time at the park but I wanted to get back so I could head down to the beach.  It was lovely evening on the beach, lots of families playing in the water, others walking the beach, and lots of birds!  I splashed a bit in the water, took some photos, including a few of the Carnival ship sailing away.  

After dinner (I cheaped out and went across the road to the McDonalds) I sat by the pool to read before heading back to my room.  I found the women's Olympic curling (USA vs. Switzerland) - Kevin Martin did a great job of commentating, the US rep not so much.  I did hear that the Canadians (Rachel Homan's team) lost both of their games...not good.  Hopefully they'll pick up on the ice soon.
After a little more Olympics coverage I was ready for sleep.  Lots of fresh and sun will do that!

Today's agenda - beach & pool, lunch at The Shark Pit, and more beach & pool.

Have a great day everyone!

 

A return, of sorts

I've chosen to open up this blog again, merely to allow for those who wish to find the cats' blog to find it via my profile. 

Just a very quick update for those of you who may be interested. 
The biggest news, by far, of the past year was the birth of my grandson Eli.  He is the most adorable, sweetest baby in the world.  I swear I'm not biased in the least!

The number of marbles in the jar continue to decrease.  As of last Thursday, I reached the one-year pre-retirement mark.  My plans for retirement have been adjusted a little because of the first bit of news.  I still intend to move to Vancouver Island but my departure has been slightly delayed.  In addition, I'll probably spend 3-4 months a year back here in Saskatchewan to help with child care.  Who am I kidding, it's all about my being able to spend time with the most adorable, sweetest kid in the world.

I did manage a cruise last fall, a Canada/New England 7 day out of New York and return.  We had Hurricane Ike following us up the coast (a day or so behind) and had to miss one port (Bar Harbor) as a result.  However, it was a fantastic cruise; definitely the best pricing I've ever seen, great group of solos, and a wonderful itinerary.  We were a little early for the fall colors so I'll have to do it again someday.

I'm just 11 days away from my next vacation.  I'm flying down to Orlando on Valentine's Day, will spend two days at Cocoa Beach before boarding the Norwegian Epic for a 7 day western Caribbean cruise.  I'm joining two other women (possibly three) I met on the Norwegian Escape two years ago.  They sailed together last year but Eli was expected to arrive any day.  After the cruise, I'm staying in Orlando for two days before returning home.

I've been busy knitting and crocheting with various projects completed, and others underway.  I've made a shawl, a baby cap and mitts, a couple of other pairs of mittens, and am currently working on a small blanket and a tea cozy.  I have to keep my hands busy while I watch the curling....and the Olympics when they start next week.

That pretty wraps up what has been happening with me this past year.  I probably won't post here again for another year, but I'll be around to visit your blogs as time permits   Wishing you all a year of happiness, moments of joy, and good health.