To say that we enjoyed the food on the cruise is an understatement. We certainly didn’t skimp in the quantity we indulged or the frequency of our dining. Let’s just say that when I weighed myself the day we returned, I cheered when I realized I gained only 3 pounds.
We treated ourselves every morning to (free!) room service of coffee and a continental breakfast. My mom says that this is her favorite part of the cruise. [I, on the other hand, was more preoccupied with making sure I was awake when the breakfast arrived. I had several false alarms when I’d run to the door, sure that I had heard a knock, only to open the door and see no one there. Having said that, it was still such a treat to have breakfast delivered to the room!]
We ate breakfast in the dining room, too, and my favorite item was the made-for-you omelets. I was not only impressed with the taste, but how the chef could flip the omelets perfectly in the air. I’m going to try this at home, although I suspect that I might be eating eggs off the floor for a while.
Not only did we eat lunch, but we’d have little sandwiches at the afternoon tea, followed by my favorite, the sushi! The sushi bar started just an hour before our dinner, but that never stopped me. I was usually one of the first in line, and the sushi chefs started to recognize me a couple days into the cruise.
Even after eating the sushi, I had no problem eating our delicious 3-course dinners. Just thinking about the lobster meal we had one night and the chocolate melted cake for dessert makes my mouth water. (I have no pictures to show because apparently I was more interested in eating than photographing the food.)
However, the most interesting meal I had was an appetizer at lunch. I ordered an “antipasto platter,” which to me meant a plate of cheeses, meats, and/or olives. (I’m not crazy for thinking this, according to
Wikipedia.) But, I guess on the cruise it meant sea creatures, complete with tentacles and suction cups, that may have been alive and swimming seconds ago.
Although I’m pretty adventurous with my food (and I do eat raw sushi), I prefer for my food to make me use my imagination a little on what it looked like when it was alive.
Even with that questionable dish, we didn’t have anything close to a bad meal.
And now, the only complainer is my stomach, who thinks it is still on a cruise and wants to eat every 2 hours.
I ended up folding the placement a few times to make the fabric thicker and to give it more support.
Then I just used a simple stitch by hand on the side and on the bottom. (And no, I did not take step-by-step pictures because I had no idea that I would actually succeed in making it.)
Now, ta-da, here is the final product:
The stitching definitely looks amateur-ish, but I finally have my Kindle cover. I might end up putting a decorative button or ribbon on the top, but we’ll see. I think I may have used up my year’s (or decade's) supply of craftiness already.
I cooked it just like regular ground beef, and the chili turned out to be pretty tasty! After using this exotic meat (or what I consider to be more exotic than beef or chicken), I felt like a rugged hunter. Or, at least as rugged as you can feel when you pull pre-packaged game meat from your freezer and cook it in your modern kitchen.
We got a laugh because as we were entering the theater, I noticed a sign that said, “This theater offers movies in 2D.” 
[These wouldn’t necessarily be my top magazine picks, but I figured they suited me better than some of the other choices, like say Cigar Aficionado or Western Horseman.]
And though they’re not “frequent flier miles” (but I forget and call them that anyway), I’m finally using my hotel award points that I’ve collected on all of my business trips over the last year. 
- Watching: I watched the movie My Life in Ruins with the actress from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I knew it probably wasn’t going to be as funny as My Big Fat Greek Wedding (and I was right), but it was still a light, fun movie. I did fall asleep during the last part of it, but that’s only because I seem to have narcolepsy whenever I watch a movie. Eventually, I did watch the ending, which was cute.
I’m determined that somehow Husband and I will finally take some time off from work and go on a fun vacation together. We’re thinking maybe either this fall or next spring, before we move.
After a quick internet search, I figured out that the movie was filmed at the St. Regis Bora Bora Hotel. (Picture from the St. Regis website)
To steal a line from the movie, "This looks like a screensaver!" Although I’m drooling over the pictures, I’m not sure our wallets would feel the same excitement over the (very!) expensive rates. 
However, one person was noticeably absent from the excursion. In a sad twist of fate, Husband, who hasn’t had the flu in over 10 years and had gotten 2 flu shots this year while I had none, came down with a 24-hour bug that day. He missed the entire excursion and all of Cozumel. I felt bad leaving him on the ship. I almost wanted to lie when he asked how Cozumel was because I didn’t want to have to tell him, “It was gorgeous!” 
Husband was looking at this: a stash of water, powerade, and medicine.
Thankfully, Husband felt better the next day and was almost back to normal. Despite his brief bout of sickness, he had a great time, too. 
3) The food. I could write a whole post on this, and I probably will. We ate ourselves silly. 
5) Learning how to do the “Thriller” dance.
6) And most importantly, just relaxing and being able to hang out with our family.
I’m sure I’ll have more to say about the cruise, but those are the highlights. In the meantime, I’ll be unpacking and wondering exactly why we had to come home.
