A Nice Weekend

Oy, can I tell you what a nice weekend I had? I got to spend time not only with Stephen, Brett, Casey and Gavin, but I had the opportunity to visit with friends as well. But, truth be told, babysitting Gavin was the highlight of the weekend.
Stephen and Casey decided to go on a date. So, I got to feed Gavin dinner, play time, bath time and night-night time.
He's getting so big...crawling all over and he can walk as long as he can hold on to a piece of furniture. And he eats: for dinner that night he had rice cereal mixed with sweet potatoes and bananas for dessert. If you don't get the spoon to his mouth quick enough, he will surely let you know. LOL. And he doesn't like it when you try to wipe the food off his mouth with a spoon. Nope, he's not having any part of that. He drinks his apple juice out of a sippy cup and when he's done with his sip, he will gladly throw the cup on the floor for you. I loved it!
Play time is awesome. He has lots of toys but is partial to 2: the basketball hoop that makes noises when pulled upon and his sesame street table. He pulls himself up on that table, pushes the buttons and Elmo sings, Ernie sings and Big Bird makes noises. He loves it!
But bath time is the ultimate! As soon as you begin to undress him, his little arms start flailing, he kicks his legs up and down and a GIANT smile comes across his face. Once in the bathtub it's all about the rubber ducky. You can throw anything else you want into the tub, but it's all about the duck (sounds like a good friend I know). Splash, splash, duck in mouth, splash, splash. When it's time to get out of the tub, he gets wrapped up in his towel. But you have to keep his right hand OUT of the towel. Why, you may ask? Because once he is dried off, Stephen has taught him to "turn the light out". He turns the light off in the bathroom. I made the mistake of wrapping his right hand in his towel. Yeah, that didn't go over very well. He finally got his right hand free and I said, "Gavin, please turn the light out." and so he did. And then I turned the light on again, and he turned it off again. We did this quite a few times. He gets the largest grin across his lips and his eyes light up when he does this. Getting into pajamas is a bit of a struggle. It seems Gavin is not very fond of getting dressed. He wiggles, squirms, tries to crawl away and even cries a bit, of course without tears. But we got through it.
It was now night-night time. While his bottle was warming up, he and I sang the "3 Bears Song" (a song I learned in Girl Scouts. Yes, I was a girl scout). We went into his room, I sat in the rocking chair and slowly while sucking on his bottle, he fell asleep. Well, not really. Casey has it worked out so that he doesn't depend on finishing his bottle before he goes to sleep. I wish I had been able to do that with my kids. After feeding him a bit of his bottle, I gently put him in his crib, covered him with his blankies, turned on his music box and quietly left the room, but not before turning my head back one last time to stare at my beautiful grandbaby.
It was one of the best Saturday nights I've ever had.

Withdrawal

You should know before you read any further: this is going to be a bitch and moan and stomp my feet entry. If you're not into that, please read no further.
I am suffering from withdrawal. At first I thought it was just cruise withdrawal. Once you get off a ship and return home it's hard to remember that there isn't someone who is going to come make your bed twice a day and leave a towel animal in your room. Or that you can have steak cooked for you EVERY night if you want. I thought it was that kind of withdrawal. But after a week of thinking about the cruise and all the fun, I realized it's not the cruise I miss, it's the people. I am going through friend withdrawal.
I know, I know, I can call them, e-mail or text with them, but it's just not the same as seeing them everyday. None of the people I am closest to live anywhere near me. And I don't know if and when we will all be together again. It makes me sad.
Something else I realized today: this is the first time in 5 years wherein I don't have a cruise planned for the future. 5 years! I wish I knew how some of my friends are able to do it; that is, cruise 3-4 times a year. I'm jealous.
So, now I'm sad, jealous AND going through withdrawal.
I need a life.
All done.

There Once Was A Princess...

Long before there was Big Ed's crew, before my days of cruising, before I had children of my own, I was a Princess. No kidding. It was a title my father gave me the day I was born. And he called me his Princess until the day he passed, 17 years ago today. Mind you, as I got older, my daddy had other names for me, but none that I care to mention here and on this day.
Looking back, I admit it, my daddy spoiled me...rotten. The Princess wants it, so it shall be...within limits. Up until about the age of 10. Then I had to start work for things. My big brown eyes didn't melt his heart anymore. Don't get me wrong...daddy still loved me, but I was NOT going to get the pony I wanted for my 10th birthday.
As I got older, our relationship became strained. He had his way of looking at the world and I had mine. Needless to say, we didn't think alike on almost anything. But I knew I was still his Princess.
In my religion, we remember our parents on the anniversary of their death by lighting a candle and saying a prayer. So every year around this time, I remember the phone call from my brother telling me my daddy had died suddenly of a heart attack. He was only 53. I remember flying to New York for the funeral. I remember the cold, cold day we buried him. I remember that for years after his death I regretted that our last phone call had been one where we argued. I remember that for years and years I tried so hard to live up to my dad's expectations for me as a mother. And once I remember all these sad and miserable issues, I remember the way he used to carry me on his shoulder when we played "horsey". I remember how I used to sit at the front door of our apartment, waiting for him to get off the elevator from work, and when he did, I would run down the hallway and he would scoop me up in his arms. I remember when he was REALLY mad at me, he called me "sister" and I would laugh, I remember how proud he was at my Bat Mitzvah, even though his own mother had died the day before. I remember how proud he was when I graduated high school. I remember when he walked me down the "aisle" at my first wedding. I remember how proud he was to be "pawpaw" to Stephen and Brett. But mostly, I remember how lucky I was to have him for as long as I did.
I miss and love you, Daddy and I remember you, today and always.
Love,
Your Princess

Guilty Pleasure

Oh, my, gawd! I love television. I have the standard shows that I consistently watch and will tell everyone I am watching. However, there is 1 show I never mention to anyone. It's my guilty pleasure. It's "The Real Housewives of New York City" Just thinking about the show gets me so "ferklempt!"
Jill is my favorite housewife. Have you have seen such a brazen woman before in your life? Bethenny it too funny for words. The Countess...I swear, if I didn't know better, I'd think she is really a man in women's clothing. Not very fond of Ramona and Alex is, in my humble opinion a total phony. And with the season premiere tonight, I understand there's a newbie.
Their accents and cat fights are a hoot. Can I just tell you, you've got to watch dis show at least once...oh, my gawd!

My Ship Has Sailed

And oh what a time it was!
There was just too much fun, laughter and drinking to put into one post. It was so good to see old friends and meet the "newbies". At some times, I felt like a true rock star. The food was good, the beaches were great, the shopping non-existent (for me, anyway), the dancing, the singing, the shows...I could go on and on. 2 days in New Orleans and 5 days aboard ship, it was surely a trip I will not soon forget.
As you can see from the above picture, we've added another Princess to the royal court. She loves her tiara and wore it proudly, as did we all.
It will be a very long time before I will be able to see everyone in the same place again. But I will always have the memories. And for this, I am so grateful.
More pics can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/PrincessElaine82

Home Safely....Except for My Liver

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am back in Gainesville after a WONDERFUL week away. Will tell you all the juicy details, pictures included in a few days. I need some time to get my land legs back and allow my liver to flush out the way too much drinking I did.
And for those of you who were seated at my table for the duration of the cruise, I say....
"Tank you." "Tank you veddy much."

Bon Voyage!!

Yes, I know I still have 40 hours until I leave. But with all the running around I have to do tomorrow, I'm not sure I will have time to blog.
So, in 40 hours, I will board a plane to New Orleans, where I will spend 2 fun days hanging with the other Princesses and the Crew, as we wait to board the Carnival Fantasy on Saturday. Then it's 5 fun-filled days aboard the ship. Activities include a PJ Party in the piano bar (wait til you see the pajama's I've chosen to wear...you'll love 'em), a special beach excursion for blogger's only and a Male Nightgown Contest (Yo, Kevin!!). I promise lots and lots of pictures when I get back. Until then, I've posted a picture from last year's blogger's cruise. This picture is of Princess Sue, the quiet one, Princess Laura, the sweet and innocent, myself,(Princess Elaine, the quiet and single) and Princess Barb, the good one. Since then, we've crowned 2 other Princesses: Princess Nanni of the Muchos Huggos, and Princess Lori, the happy one. Unfortunately, Nanni and Lori will not be able to join us, but I hope to meet them in person one day soon.
So, off I go for some rest and relaxation. But more importantly, some time away from the issues that have been bringing me down. I'm NOT packing THEM in my suitcase!
Later Gators!!