Life is short...smile while you still have teeth

Almost three weeks since an update here but still not my personal best for bloggers block. And it's certainly not because there's been so little to report on. Lots of activity so here's the synopsis:

Having a set of four shifts off resulted in 13 days off. Whee! This enabled me to get ourselves, the pets and the house ready for our absence as the shore captain was working until he stepped out the door with the luggage. It's always a bit more complicated to visit Cuba as we pack gifts and donated supplies in addition to a few changes of clothes. We elected to head down to overnight with the daughter and son-in-law who conveniently reside about 20 minutes from the airport. Our flights were uneventful (thankfully) as we connected through Toronto and arrived in Varadero by mid afternoon to our very excited friends.

Rooms of priceless pharmacy artifacts

Bellemare Caves

How old is he? Me or the bull?

Cuban tourists

Early morning view

 The predicted weather was WET   which was for the most part accurate  but we certainly enjoyed our visit. As  the travel partner said "it was like  taking four kids to Disney World" to  see our friends experience a 'once in a lifetime event'. We did excursions to Havana (not to be missed) and Matanzas (excellent) and a great time was had by all. In Havana on the bus we traveled through a tunnel under the harbour and what a look on our friends faces! The caves we visited were amazing and a wonderful chance to visit them up close. We had a delicious Cuban lunch at a ranch and there was an elderly man holding the bull for the tourists to ride. Our friend Javier asked him in Spanish "how old is he?" and the old guy replied "do you mean me or the bull?" which was a belly laugh every time our friend thought of it for days. In case you're wondering the bull was 18 and I'm sure the farmer with one tooth was 81! The Pharmacy Museum in Matanzas which was used from the 1860s to 1962 and is a priceless collection - made this nurse who loves to collect old time medical equipment on eBay just drool! Needless to say the resort was fun enough and our friends chose not to miss one single moment, such as paddle boat trips, water slide, night show, basketball and the pool until they were wrinkly. We sometimes enjoyed life in the slow lane with an early morning stroll and there were lots of other resorts to check out and people watching for sure. Had to do something to keep ahead of the buffet and mojitos. It was unfortunately a losing battle - although not as bad as a cruise in that aspect. It was tough to climb on the shuttle bus back to the airport and leave our friends to make their way home on a 20 hr. bus ride.

While we were away the boy wonder apparently left the door wide open while he got in the shower one evening and exited the bathroom to cool air and no felines. After an extensive search and tempting with treats Gary returned, when it started to rain Klyde gave it up and came in but poor Stanley panicked. So...he left the veranda door open and went to bed, only to be awoken by yowling at 3 a.m. when Stanley plucked up enough courage to enter the veranda and yell for entry to the house.No wonder he was so skittish when we arrived home.

It was nice to have a couple of days to get the laundry under control and reaccustomed to having to make meals again before heading in to work. There has been more than the usual angst and change at work the past few months and the four shifts I did were no exception. The second day shift resulted in my coming homeand having a large glass of Cuban pineapple liquer with mineral water (only mixer in house) which made things look much better.

This past week saw the boy have a 24th birthday and the birthday card I gave him with his cake as I left for a night shift was the best pack rat score of two decades. It must've been a card which I had for this 4th birthday which said "Happy 4th Birthday Cowboy" so I altered it to 24th with a red marker and put it in the envelope. I'm sure that life was so frantic 20 years ago that his card was overlooked!

Lots of social life the past few days with a union meeting - Black Forest cake from Lothars for the refreshment - yum! Oktoberfest at the same establishment with another couple - beer glazed pork ribs - the next night. And tonight only five little trick or treaters. Boxes of chips left now which is what I feared! A much quieter holiday than those of the past with the last minute frantic costumes, shore captain chauffeuring the kids around to the neighbours and collecting his own goodies (fudge at one, cookies at another) and my job of giving out treats to the groups of neighbour urchins.

Although I haven't been particularly diligent - and will be squealing at some point in the not too distant future - about studying.... the quote of the day is....Life is short, smile while you still have teeth