Thanksgiving 2012

I am sad to report that I do not have any and I mean ANY photos from Thanksgiving this year. In all fairness I did spend about eight hours in the kitchen on my feet cooking for nine people! We had Turkey, Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Gravy, Veggies, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potatoes and whatever else you normally have at Thanksgiving. We had apple and pecan pie for dessert, because I'm allergic to Pumpkins. Everyone was kind enough to suffer with me and not have Pumpkin Pie. I always feel a bit guilty whenever Thanksgiving comes around because lets face it... for most, it's just not Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. Yes, I would try to avoid it by the obvious and not eat it, if it were actually that simple. However, I am extremely allergic and if I touch it I break out in welts and blow up like a balloon animal. I'm not 100% sure but I think if I may even look at pumpkins my eyeballs would explode LOL!

The guest list this year consisted of; Hubby, Child, Myself, 3 other people hubs works with who are temporary here at Keesler without their families and three airman (two of which were actually ladies) straight out of tech school, they are still so cute when they are at that level! LOL! I always love having them over because they are so appreciative and respectful. They all got to see their families briefly after BMT for graduation but that time is so short (two day weekend) that I'm not sure if its easier or harder on them. They were sent straight here to Keesler for school, no breaks in between and no family time. That it R-O-U-G-H! Especially since they were quite young and this was their first time out in the world and away from the comforts of home and family. Having them over was fun and heart warming. We got to know them a little, about who they are and where their from. Give them good home cooked food (because let me tell ya...the chow hall will get old real fast!) and good conversation and laughs. It might not have been their families they spent time with this year but at least we could be the make shift "family" to get them through their first of sadly many holidays away from home. I will surely miss this opportunity when hubby separates from the Air Force in a few months, but these are memories I'll always remember.

Halloween 2012 Post... a little late but hey... better than never.

So this year we decided to geek out for Halloween and show our inner most geekness! I put full responsibility on the child, seeing that she got to pick what theme we were going with this year. This year she picked...STAR WARS! She also requested that she get to be Yoda (without a mask, yet still with green ears and a light saber.) and that Daddy would be Hans Solo and Mommy go as Princess Leia. I'm just thankful that I didn't get Chewy or Jabba the Hutt! And Daddy was incredibly grateful that she didn't go with her second choice; Peter Pan... and guess who was going to be Peter (with tights) LOL! I had the fortunate duty to find make the child a costume since the only ones I found were infant sized. No sweat right?!... WRONG! Fourteen and a half hours later, my fingers looked like I had been working in a sweatshop and my machine was squeaking in agony. However, the costume came out perfect! We ended up buying a Princess Leia and Hans Solo costume because I just didn't have the time or patients to make two more costumes. We  ended up trick-or-treating with a few friends on base and a few stops (yes, I said stopS)at the Generals houses. What?! Don't judge... they give out the best candy! We then finished up the night with dinner at hooters and some long over due chicken wings!

OooOoohhh! I see Hans kissing Leia! The extra kiddos on the lower right side belong to friends of ours. They were dressed as Luke and Leia since they really are brother and sister, their dad wore a Darth Vader shirt that said; "Who's your daddy". Funniest little Halloween parody ever!

The amazing costume and hat since she didn't want to wear a mask and the cutest Yoda ever!

Our Cruise to the Bahahmas and Key West Florida

I am slacking big time in my posts and for that I apologize! As per our usual we have been insanely busy... It' also occurred to me that I didn't post anything about our cruise adventure!...

We did end up going on our cruise to the fabulous Bahamas despite the weather and the impending doom of Hurricane Sandy. Yes, we were out there in the Florida straits when she was growing into the massive "super storm" that wiped out parts of New Jersey. How was it you ask? Rocky to say the least. The first day was very nice, we left the port of Miami right on time and were steadily sailing along that night to be in Nassau's port the next morning.

We arrived in Nassau and it was EXTREMELY windy! We had a little rain but we did have a GREAT time. We went on our shore excursions while there; the underwater submarine and the city tour around Nassau and Paradise Island. The next day we were supposed to go to Coco Cay which is Royal Caribbean's private island for a day of beach fun but sadly we had to skip it since the winds were too high to tether the ship off and because we were trying to out run the Hurricane behind us, this is where the vacation took a detour to crap-tastic-ville.

That day we sailed to Key West and up the Florida straights (which is usually pretty rocky anyway) around 8pm that night we decided to head into the theater after visiting the lounge for our "drink of the day". And this was when I received my first bout of motion sickness or "sea sickness". I've been cruising before, I've been on airplanes galore, I've even been under water but never have I been sick in all my life. We had to leave the show early and I ended up sleeping from about 8pm till the next morning with a brief intermission to the bathroom around 3am. Around 5am it got extremely rocky and we actually woke up out of our sleep to the sound of the ship crashing down on a 15 foot wave. It nearly knocked us out of bed (in a room on the 8th deck) and later that morning we discovered it trashed the dining room and theater on deck 3 with over turned palm trees, plants, tables and lighting.

We docked in Key West around 7am and took our raining but interesting tour aboard the "Trolly of the Doom".  We stopped off at Key West's fort and took our EMF detectors (Ghost Reader Meters) along for the tour. We stopped inside the fort at the "Robert Doll" and low and behold our meter went off as soon as I had a light tingling sensation in the palm of my hand. I told hubbers to pass me the meter since I had a tingly sensation in my hand. It felt sort of like when your foot falls asleep and sorta being brushed gently by a breeze but just in my hand. And like a well behaved tourist I asked Robert's permission before I photographed him and then thanked him as well. Some of the people on our tour thought it was a bit ludicrous to ask permission and thank a doll, however our tour guide warned us if we didn't we'd be asking for the address to write Robert an apology letter to undo his curse. We also found out later after we boarded the ship again that two of the ships passengers didn't make it back on. I wonder now if those were the two skeptics on our tour...? LOL! Anyway here's a few pics from our adventure on the high seas!

Ready to board and sail away to paradise!.. or so we thought... LOL!

Our room, tiny right? It was ok, we didn't spend a lot of time in it.

The lunch buffet in the wind jammer.

The pool deck where we spend most of our time!

The view of downtown Miami from the pool deck.

Inside the centrum where the shops and dining rooms are.

The Casino!

Our first drink of the day... a Bahama Mama!

Hubbers winning big at the casino!

Docked in port at Nassau

Hubby standing next to the ship LOL! So little!

On our underwater sub tour!

Someone's a little worried LOL!

Don't we look cute in green?

Pretty fish and crystal clear waters!

Atlantis from Paradise Bay

Want to buy a conch for $5.00?

Fort Fin Castle

A view of Paradise Bay from Fort Fin Castle

In front of the fountains at Atlantis

Junkanoo the Mardi Gras of the Caribbean!

Our treasures and trinkets from Nassau

Woohoo! Midnight Pool deck party and buffet!

We found these statues in Key West and decided to have a little fun...

Um.. honey? You've got a little something back there ;)

The Jess-a-saurus strikes!

I swear she looks like shes about to say "Get your own burger!"

Pretty statue... I believe it's of Ernest Hemingway.

Docked in Key West.

He got a "Cookie Monster" cone!

Aboard the Trolly of the doomed!

At Key West's Haunted Fort

Hubby prepared to find the ghosts with his EMF reader!

Robert the doll. Creepy right? In the left corner just behind him is where I was standing when my hand started to tingle and the EMF reader was going crazy! The papers on the wall are notes and letters of apology written to Robert and begging for him to remove the curse because tourists have come and either mocked him or not asked his permission to be photographed. I think it might be a good idea to even just thank him for viewing this pic! ;)

Book Review: Bruja Brouhaha By: Rochelle Staab

Liz and nick are enjoying the sixtieth wedding anniversary celebration for their charming hosts, Paco and Lucia Rojas, devout Santeria practitioners who own the historical Botanica Rojas near MacArthur Park. But the small group of friends is left horrified and confused when the evening ends in tragedy. 

Devastated by loss, Lucia, a Santeria priestess, blames the locals for the escalating crime in her beloved community. She casts a vengeful hex on the neighborhood, leading strangers and friends alike to dub her bruja-Spanish for witch-and turn on the elderly woman. Lucia may be in harm's way, and it's up to Liz and Nick to unravel a mysterious disappearance and solve a murder before more lives are lost... 

A great follow up to Rochelle's "Who Do, Voodoo?"! I had a feeling though, when I finished her first book that I would get happily stuck on her series of "Mind for Murder Mysteries"! As usual, she kept me turning pages and racing to the end to see if I my guess "who did it" would be right... and just like before she through me for a pleasant loop! I liked everything about the book, the setting, the usual suspects... I mean characters and of course some new friends that were added in this book. I was also happy to read about a new aspect of occult and loved the strong influence of Santeria had the plot, it made the book very rich and detailed. Thanks for another GREAT read Rochelle! I am now dieing to read whatever you come out with next!