Bon Voyage!

Pre-Cruise Fun

Here are a few pictures from our day in Baltimore. We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.

We explored the Inner Harbor.

Lots of boats in the harbor.

Eric made a new friend.

And this was the view from the hotel room.

We're looking forward to boarding the ship at noon tomorrow. We'll mostly be out of the Internet world, but hope to check in on Wednesday from Grand Turk. 

Extended Birthday Celebration

We went to Sheila's on Sunday for a family celebration for Eric's birthday.

Sheila made another fabulous cake. It was a red velvet cake with heath bar crunch and caramel!

Kelly got the assist for blowing out the candles.

And we got a 2-for-1 blow fish photo!

* * *

We're in the final stages of the vacation countdown. We're counting down in hours now... we're trying to get Alex all set with taking care of the house and Jenny while we're away. All the neighbors know we'll be away and several friends will be doing walk/drive-by's while we're gone. You can never be too cautious!

And speaking of Jenny, she's not doing well. She was recently diagnosed with degenerative spinal disease and is in a lot of pain. The vet has her on pain medication and muscle relaxants. We go back in 3 weeks for a check up. The vet says it's not reversible, so we'll have to see what the long-term plan will be, if there is one. She's almost 11, but unfortunately, this is a fairly common disease for Corgi's and dogs with long backs and short legs. Her sister had it 3 years ago at 8 years old and the outcome was not good, so Jenny got a few more years on her anyway. 

Very Busy Week

We've been a little busy this week! I had something going on every night after work. Which is why the blog posts came to a screeching halt. 

Tuesday after work, I went to "Motown the Musical" with my friend Mary. This concluded the musical season for the Spring. I saw 4 musicals this year. More than I think I've seen in my entire life. Work perks (aka: free tickets) are fun. 

Then Wednesday was Eric's birthday! We started the evening at the Bull n Bear for dinner.

Cheers!

A couple of tasty Margaritas!

Alex joined us for dinner. (Still won't take a photo with me.)

Then we went home and Eric unwrapped his gifts. He got lots of goodies. Including new shoes, an Amazon Fire Tablet, a new Magic Bullet, the new Todd Rundgren album and.... 

Some Whiskey to smuggle on the cruise! We'll fill one or two of those bags and stuff it in our luggage. Then we'll enjoy some "Whiskey & Gingers" on the balcony. 

He also got this fun "They Might Be Giants" t-shirt. 

Thursday night I had to get my tires fixed
(They were not balanced correctly after I got my snow tires taken off.)

Then Friday Eric and I went to Armory Square after work to bid farewell to one of his co-workers.

Mark is on Eric's right, he's moving on to "bigger and better" things.

Eric and I at "Limerick Pub"

After Limerick, we went to Empire Brewing Company for some dinner. 

It was a busy week! The busy-ness continues... and we are down to 7 days til cruising time! Lots to squeeze in before we depart.

Mother's Day Festivities

Eric and I started off our day at Panera with a fabulous breakfast. I love their Asiago Bagel breakfast sandwich.

Later in the afternoon we went to Sheila's for a Mother's Day Dinner. We all pitched in and got Sheila a GIANT gift this year. 

She has quite the time getting it open. I think those are Kelly's feet hanging out the back, helping to get the gift open. She's always a great helper.

Ta-da! A new dresser/basket thing to help organize her bedroom. Isn't it neat!?  I could really use something like that too.

The after-party. It was funnier when Kelly, Alex and I were also there playing with our devices.

Alex was not cooperating with photo taking. 

He did go out and walk Bella a couple of times though.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's who read the blog. Especially my own. I know we weren't able to get together this year, but I was certainly thinking about you and hope you had a wonderful day.

Timber!

We had some trees removed today. Our view is becoming clearer every year. 

This is a before photo, from last Fall. 

Two trees were taken down on this side of the house too. I couldn't find a photo of what it looked like before. But you can see the stumps and the saw dust. 

They also cut back a lot of branches and limbs away from the house on the remaining trees, so they weren't touching the house and roof. I think it will brighten it up a lot on the deck this summer. 

Dinner at Rudy's

Tonight we went up to Rudy's on Lake Ontario. What a beautiful (but very cold) night!

We caught the sunset as we were leaving. 

We were treated to dinner by Rich and Sheila. Eric was hired to take some photos for Rich, so in return, we got great dinner and great company! 

And dessert! It was so nice to get out during the week. 

Snazzy Sunday

We went to the Mall today in search of a sport jacket for Eric for the cruise. He has a nice suit, but doesn't want to take a full suit this time. So we found this very snazzy jacket at Sears today. We think it will go nicely with a pair of khakis. And he can wear an oxford shirt and tie along with it and look like a million bucks. And guess how much it cost?? Well, it was regularly priced at $165. It was 50% off. And I had a 15% off coupon. PLUS we had a $52 credit on our Sears card from when we bought the washer and dryer. Sooo... the grand total was $20. Can't beat that!

Eric finally finished up Tel Auc last night. Glad that's over! He's tired enough as it is, but throw on an extra day/night of work every week into the mix, and he's exhausted. (That's Erin, one of the producers, behind him.)

This is happening right now. He's catching up on some much needed rest. See anything unusual behind him?? Heheheh. (No, not the 5 bottles of wine on the china cabinet...)

Cinco de Mayo

We had a mini-Cinco de Mayo celebration this evening. A couple of cerveza's and some burritos for dinner. We do know how to have fun!

It was a quiet week. The weather was terrible, so we mostly bundled up on the couch each night after work. Eric is still having some residual effects from the chemo, especially with his hands and feet. He's pretty frustrated that there's not much change there. Food is tasting better all the time though and he's putting on weight. 

He has his next colonoscopy scheduled. It's 3 days after we get home from vacation. (June 7) I told him he should move it to the next week, but he thinks it'll be good to "empty out" after all that crap he'll be eating. 

Not much else to report from here. We're mostly just counting down to warmer weather and exotic locations. (21 more days...)