Sunday, June 20, 2010
Life is what you make it
I am wondering how some people have not yet learned that their lives turn out how they direct it. Vacations are no exception to this rule. I am in the Bahamas on one of those package deals that you get when you agree to listen to a presentation from a timeshare or vacation plan. We arrived on Bahamas Celebration, a cruise ship that travels to and from Grand Bahama Island. It is a pretty okay ship, not one of the new mega ships that I have been on lately but no rinky dink job either. You can do a two day sail to the island and back or you have the option of spending a few days on the island. We chose to stay two nights. Check-in was not the easiest but with hundreds of people checking out and hundreds waiting to check in, I think they did a terrific job. We arived before 12 and check-in is at 3 so they sent us to the beach and gave us all the amenities to use until the rooms would be ready. Why were people complaining about having to wait to get a room instead of doing something to pass the time? Personally, I don't mind waiting for them to get my room ready. I prefer to wait for them to change the linens and clean the room rather than to rush and fluff the pillows and straingthen the bed and call my room ready. The kids (14 and 9) spent the entire time in the pool playing volleyball with their new 'friends', I went across the street to the shopping district. I didn't realize that it was 3:30 when I returned and the kids had no idea how long they had been in the water. I met the same people coming from their rooms complaining that they just got into their rooms and were not pleased with the wait time. I smiled my signature smile and told them that there is so much to do around the resort and they shouldn't miss another minute of it. I don't think they liked my response:) I subscribe to the adage, "Life is What You Make It" and those who know me know that I make the most of my life. See you next time.
Getting out of St. Thomas
I know some of you will find this humorous but remember before you laugh, it could happen to YOU. All week I have been on pins and needles waiting to hear if the Spirit strike will end before our scheduled departure on Friday. Everyday I check the news and the Spirit website to see if the planes will fly on Friday, each day they add another day to the cancelled list. Wednesday they tell me we should be fine because the flights will resume on Friday. I breathe a sigh of relief and focused on the closing of school.
Friday all the news reports say that the agreement is in place and the planes are flying. Talk about pushing it close, I have a flight at 4:00 so I have to be at the airport by 2:00. I leave our final faculty meeting early, of course after offering my apologies and best summer wishes. Went home, picked up the family, and somehow make it to the airport at 2:00 only to find out that our 4:00 flight is delayed and scheduled to leave at 6:00. In the back of my mind I say this is Karma at its best from my principal because I didn't wait to hear what he was going to say. We hung around outside for a while got something to eat and went in around 4 (for those who are familiar, CEK is one of the most passenger unfriendly airports in the world...there is absolutely nothing to do but watch TV) When we got to the gate area they made and annuncement that the flight has been delayed again and will leave FLL around 5:20 pushing our departure to 7:30. Needless to say, that did not happen. We're still unsure if it was a weather or mechanical delay but the flight did not arrive into St. Thomas until after 8:00 and we boarded and were scheduled to take off at 9:00. Why is it that when we were pushing back getting ready for take-off a torential rain came down? I was convinced that this trip was not meant to be. We sat on the runway for over a half hour waiting for the rain to ease up. Don't get me wrong, I was not complaining. I appreciated the fact that the pilots chose to wait rather than take off in the storm. We finally took off after 10. The ascent was a litle shaky with the clouds to go through but the rest of the flight was smooth and suprisingly quick. We arrived in Fort Lauderdale around 1:00, got the rental car and headed to the hotel. We thank GOD for his favor and look forward to a most enjoyable trip. Oh I forgot to share our itinerary. Tonight in FLL, tomorrow a one night sail to Grand Bahama Island, two nights on the island at a resort, one night sail back to Florida, two nights in Orlando, two nights in Fort Lauderdale and then home.
Friday all the news reports say that the agreement is in place and the planes are flying. Talk about pushing it close, I have a flight at 4:00 so I have to be at the airport by 2:00. I leave our final faculty meeting early, of course after offering my apologies and best summer wishes. Went home, picked up the family, and somehow make it to the airport at 2:00 only to find out that our 4:00 flight is delayed and scheduled to leave at 6:00. In the back of my mind I say this is Karma at its best from my principal because I didn't wait to hear what he was going to say. We hung around outside for a while got something to eat and went in around 4 (for those who are familiar, CEK is one of the most passenger unfriendly airports in the world...there is absolutely nothing to do but watch TV) When we got to the gate area they made and annuncement that the flight has been delayed again and will leave FLL around 5:20 pushing our departure to 7:30. Needless to say, that did not happen. We're still unsure if it was a weather or mechanical delay but the flight did not arrive into St. Thomas until after 8:00 and we boarded and were scheduled to take off at 9:00. Why is it that when we were pushing back getting ready for take-off a torential rain came down? I was convinced that this trip was not meant to be. We sat on the runway for over a half hour waiting for the rain to ease up. Don't get me wrong, I was not complaining. I appreciated the fact that the pilots chose to wait rather than take off in the storm. We finally took off after 10. The ascent was a litle shaky with the clouds to go through but the rest of the flight was smooth and suprisingly quick. We arrived in Fort Lauderdale around 1:00, got the rental car and headed to the hotel. We thank GOD for his favor and look forward to a most enjoyable trip. Oh I forgot to share our itinerary. Tonight in FLL, tomorrow a one night sail to Grand Bahama Island, two nights on the island at a resort, one night sail back to Florida, two nights in Orlando, two nights in Fort Lauderdale and then home.
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