Dammit. That is all I have to say about that. The timing was unreal. First, I was cautious and waited until after we had our taxes done, to make sure we weren't going to owe too much. As soon as I got the good news from the accountant, I added the hot tub of my choice into my online cart. Karlo starting mentally preparing the deck for extra support, I almost had my finger on my mouse ready to click the "order now" button when the bad news arrived about our roof in Maine. Insert swears and expletives here! And there goes the new hot tub. I could have had two of them for the price of this stinkin' roof. Steam coming out of my ears . . .
And the worst part is that I could really really really use a hot tub these days. My body aches almost constantly for no apparent reason. I fantasize about how nice it would be to soak in a tub. Not to mention that having a hot tub may be the only way I'll ever go back into the woods. I figure a quick dip in the tub after hikes will boil off any free-loading critters. Sigh. I guess it's gonna have to wait now and I don't like it.
I swear it feels like I need 20 hours of sleep per day right now. I am just so unbelievably tired all the time, it's unreal. I sometime think about writing on my blog, but just the thought wears me out. And then there's trying to figure out what to talk about, besides my current misery . . . and I always draw a blank. My life is just consumed with being sick and that alone makes me sick.
So since my illness is all I can think about these days, maybe I should document where I am with it. Tomorrow ends my 21 day dose of antibiotics and I'm also scheduled to see the doctor again tomorrow. I'm clearly a long way from being back to healthy and I can't wait to see what the next step will be. I've gone beyond frustration and I'm now entering anger. It's amazing how many feelings a person can have toward a bug. A DEAD bug! That damned little bug . . . . . OK, deep breathes.
My ears are still super sensitive and I'm convinced that I lost some hearing. I can no longer hear low range things, and most things above a whisper are still too much for me. My comfort level is ridiculously small. My body is still sore and achy and every morning it feels like I was in a car wreck the day before. How can muscles ache so darn much without having done anything to stress them? I just don't understand it. My back and neck hurt no matter what, consistently every single day. And if I do the slightest amount of physical activity, I'm sore. Yesterday we took a short easy walk and my legs felt like I biked all day. I swatted a tennis racket around a dozen times yesterday (trying to kill bees) and today my forearm hurts like crazy. This is the most pathetic and depressing situation. I went from being in tip top shape just a month ago to THIS. There are just no words to describe how I feel about this.
But on a brighter note, the severity of the headaches has decreased, the pain in my hips is gone, and the dizziness has lessened. I'm moving around at much quicker speeds and that, at least, makes me feel better.
Now if I could just figure out a way to sleep 20 hours a day while still getting paid, life would be better.
This past week is going down in history as the most miserable week of my life. Even I struggle to find the words to describe the misery. Taking just one photo at day was, at times, almost overwhelming. It meant that I had to actually get off the couch and move. uuuuugh. You can't even imagine . . . So here's my week, as best as I could capture it.
#108 This is basically what gets me through the day . . . noise canceling headphones, pain killers, my antibiotics, and probiotics. What a rockin' good time my life has become.
#109 I got up and took a picture of the couch with all my blankets and pillows on it, but then I turned around and saw Peanut lying like this. This defines EXACTLY how I felt (and still feel) so I couldn't resist this as my photo of the day. Thanks for illustrating, Peanut.
#110 It was good timing that my new book arrived from Amazon today. I read a lot this week, considering how much my eyeballs hurt to move them.
#111 I actually ventured outdoors today (I went to work even, but that was a mistake). When I got home I wanted to take photos of the spring bulbs and made it half way up the driveway! But the wind was too strong to take a nice picture of the daffodils. I got this dead bud instead. More appropriate for my mood than bright flowers.
#112 I was determined to keep our tradition of painting eggs on Good Friday. After procrastinating all day, I finally mustered the energy to watch Karlo paint them.
#113 Now I really got crazy and did a load of laundry. It took everything I had so imagine my delight when I opened the drier door and money literally flew out at me. It was like a winning slot machine. How exciting!
#114 This picture shows my only bright spots of the weekend. On Friday, we colored the eggs, on Saturday I found the Snoopy card and my favorite candy of all time in my mailbox (Thank you Tina & family!!!!!), and this morning I got a partially deaf (just like me) chocolate bunny. So maybe things are starting to look up.
This morning we got off the ship and headed to the famous South Beach in Miami for our last excursion. I didn't' realize that it included a bus tour of the Art Deco district. I guess I don't read the excursion descriptions very well. So this was a bonus and it was quite interesting. I've heard of Art Deco before, but I never really knew what it was or how it came to be. It definitely made us take a closer look at South Beach and appreciate the architecture. It's funny how I never even noticed this on our first visit several years ago. I wouldn't normally have taken boring pictures of buildings, but now I was fascinated by the styles so I grabbed a few cool pictures.
Aside from the cool buildings there was nothing else about Miami that I remotely liked. Check out the temperate while we were there . . . You may have to click on the photo to actually see the temp.
I can't imagine why anybody would want to live there. No amount of beach or sunshine is worth that crazy traffic.
And I'll leave you with one last video of the trip:
Since today is a full day with no commitments of rising early, we stayed up late last night - such party animals! There was a big dance party on the main deck that I had fun watching. Yes, watching. All the dances were line-type dances (non-country) which is right up my alley, but Karlo (despite the fact that he now line dances) was not into the "cattle call" as he calls it. We just did our own thing, as we usually do, and it was nice.
Last night was also the first night that I actually slept since we left home and I think I figured out why I wasn't sleeping. Yesterday was also the first day that I didn't take the Alka-seltzer cold medicine. Ah-ha. Mystery solved. I struggled with my head yesterday, but it was worth getting some much needed sleep.
I woke up feeling almost human again. I was so excited that I sprung out of bed (this means that it didn't take me a full minute to go from laying to standing) and tried some yoga poses. Wow, I could bend over! I'm finally on the mend. To celebrate we headed out to the deck where Karlo took some video and pictures of my doing yoga. It was a blast - a huge challenge in the strong winds, but lots of fun. I even got Karlo to do a short routine with me. We had to the whole deck to ourselves as all the other party animals were still sleeping. It was blissful.
This day would be a challenge because there were no shore excursions. That meant we had to keep ourselves occupied all day on the ship, and we did a pretty good job. I was happy on my lounge chair with a book and the band playing for the first few hours. Then it was obvious that good ole Paula was back . . . I insisted on going to the track for several walking laps. Gosh, it felt good to walk without pain.
We also watched an ice sculpting demonstration, played a fun trivia game, and went to a charming tea time in a piano bar. It was likely Karlo and I and a bunch of Brits, but we do enjoy our tea breaks so we fit right in. In an effort to fit in even better I asked Karlo if we should "talk with an accent" while we were there sipping our tea. Karlo's reply was, "Only while we are here?" It took me a couple of seconds to get it, but when I did I laughed so hard I nearly choked on my tea. Do you get the humor here?
From the tea break we went shopping on the ship and I scored myself a really gaudy yellow ring that Karlo picked out. I've been searching for a yellow stoned ring forever and it was sweet that he found me one. I do like sparkly things!
It has now been 5 straight days with a migraine-strength headache and I'm starting to worry. The cold medicine has allowed me to do everything we want to do as far as activities and nighttime shows. I've yet to attempt yoga because bending over and lowering my head makes it feel like it will explode. So yoga is out. I guess I should be happy about this situation as it really is a blessing in disguise. I'm forced into slow mode and just walking up the stairs tires me out. Thank God this didn't happen to me on our last trip. This is the perfect time for me to be like this.
Today was a leisurely morning of lounging because we didn't get into our next port - Cozumel, Mexico - until 2PM. I've been looking forward to this excursion the most and is really the reason we are on this trip at all. You see, I love fish, especially tropical ones. Given the number of fish I manage to kill every year, you would never guess that I have a love affair with them, but I do. I'm simply fascinated by them. Scuba diving would be a dream, but my fear of water prevents me from attempting that one. So when I found a clear bottom kayak trip in the place known for the bluest water in the world . . . I was sold. Pretty fish viewing while staying dry. Now that is my kind of excursion.
Picture simply does not do it justice!
When we arrived at the port the water did not disappoint. It was amazing. I've been to a few tropical islands, but those waters didn't seem to be as crazy blue as this was. It was pure torture that I didn't have a real camera with me. I didn't even have my point 'n shoot. All I had was our new little waterproof video camera, that happened to take some really low res stills. Some photographer, but I was happy to have something, anything, to capture a few memories.
We were taken to a National Park called Chankanaab and it was gorgeous and uncrowded (always a big plus for me and Karlo). As it turns out, the excursion included snorkeling, as well as kayaking, and the funny thing was that I completely blanked the snorkeling from my memory. I was just so excited about the kayaking that nothing else seemed to matter. And this is a lesson on expectations. I usually don't get excited about anything, especially trips. The reason being that it only sets me up for disappointment. Reality never seems to measure up to my crazy imagination. And I guess that is what happened to the kayaking portion of this excursion. This was actually on my Bucket List and was a pretty big deal for me. I wanted it to be perfect, but it wasn't as good as my expectations. Still nice, but not spectacular.
The spectacular part came next - the part that I never even thought twice about. We snorkeled again and it's funny how much difference a day can make. The day before I was terrified to jump into the water . . . and now I felt like a seasoned pro. After Key West (entering the deep ocean with big waves from a boat) nothing was going to phase me. Today we were getting into the water via the shore -- too easy!
This time I was among the first people in the water and only three feet from shore I stuck my head in the water and was treated to the most incredible fish show - better than I could ever have imagined or expected. I was in Heaven. I just couldn't believe how many beautiful fish were everywhere and they were not phased by the humans. They would just swim all around you. It was one of the biggest thrills of my life and I managed to stay in the water long enough to nearly freeze to death! That ridiculous theory of "Swim around and you will get used to it" just doesn't work for me. The longer I stay in the water, the lower my body temps drop. But it was worth it. I loved it!
The human Popsicle strikes again.
I also loved Cozumel, which is strange because I'm usually not drawn to tropical places. I can't totally put my finger on it, but something about the place intrigued me. The water is just mesmerizing and hypnotic and I definitely want to go back for another visit - next time with my wetsuit! Karlo and I had fun walking through the little shops and we ditched dinner on the boat in favor of drinks and snacks on the water in one of the most fun Mexican (of course) restaurants I have ever been in. We had a blast and ate the BEST salsa of our lives. OMG I can't wait to go back!
Here's a silly little movie trailer of this day's events:
Our first port of call was Key West and we arrived nice and early. We got up to watch the sunrise again and had a nice breakfast on the deck. My head was still a disaster and thank God a steady dose of Alka-seltzer cold medicine seemed to let me function.
We took off for our "shore excursion" that had very little to do with the shore. We boarded a big catamaran sailboat and headed out to the 3rd largest living reef in the world. The sailboat ride was awesome. The waves were big and it was nice to really "feel" like you were on the water for a change. (The ship is so smooth you forget you're at sea.)
Despite loving the sailing part I was growing more and more anxious about the second part of the excursion - the snorkeling part. I tried this sport before in the Caribbean and it didn't go so good. I'm just not built for the water. I waited until everybody else got into the very scary looking ocean and I really didn't think I would actually get in. I had the silly fins on my feet and the uncomfortable mask on my head, but the whole time I'm thinking, "Yeah, right. I don't think so."
I'm really not sure what came over me to give me the courage to do it, but I did it! I actually got in the water and at first I hated it. I was practically hyperventilating and of course, I was FREEZING. It took me several minutes to get used to everything, especially the big waves, but I worked my way up to putting my head down and breathing through the tube. There was still some ocean drinking, coughing, and choking, but I did manage to see the reef and the beautiful fish. I was sooooo proud of myself. I was a human Popsicle, but very proud indeed.
Luckily there was plenty of time for me to sunbathe on the deck and dry out during the ride back to shore. Once we got to shore we had some time to stroll around the adorable little town. I wish we had more time and I wish I had my real camera.
Here's a little movie trailer of the big adventure.
Doing nothing really is an art . . . that I have yet to master. It's amazing how challenging I find it. This vacation has given me some great practice. In 10 years with Karlo we never really took a "relaxing" vacation. The closest we ever got was a European cruise for our honeymoon, but I don't remember much downtime on that trip. This past trip was all about downtime and I struggled.
As it turned out I wasn't feeling well for most of the trip. Apparently I under-estimated the power of that stupid tick. Holy cow, I woke up on Saturday with the worst headache of my life. As the day progressed, it got worse; major body (muscle & joint) aches, chills . . . just miserable. Unfortunately, I woke up in the same condition on Sunday and had to get moving for our early morning flight. You would think that given the condition I was in, I would have had no problem just laying by the pool. But no, I was bored! And hot. It was so HOT. I came to the shocking discovery that I no longer have a huge tolerance to the heat. I am just no good at either extreme - cold nor hot. Karlo could happily lay there and bake, but I was fidgeting. Despite my pounding headache I needed to walk (very slowly) along the beach and get into the pool. Yes, I must have been sick to actually get INTO the pool.
It was a long and leisurely day in Ft. Lauderdale. We got up to watch the sunset the next morning and that was really nice.
We walked the beach and lounged a little more the next day before heading to Miami to board our ship. Once we got on board it was more restless sun bathing. The ship didn't start cruising until 4pm so these 1st few hours were bloody hot with no winds. We bounced around to a half dozen decks before I finally found a place were I could sit still and that was looking over the stage and pool area. I needed to watch the activity and sing along to the music to keep me entertained. I couldn't just lay there.
I was planning to start my vacation memoir tonight, but I'm losing the battle against the tick in the most horrific way. I don't think it's possible that I could EVER forget what I'm experiencing right now, but just in case, I thought I should document it.
After a terrible weekend of feeling like I was dying, I was forced back to the doctor this afternoon. I was convinced that my head would simply explode soon. The doc told me that I have the worst case of Lyme Disease that he ever saw. I now have to wear noise canceling earphones all day long just to get by. My sensitivity to sound is off the chart and the constant ringing in my ears is deafening. Add to that the pain in my body . . . my neck, my hips, joints, muscles, EYEBALLS. OMG everything hurts. How the hell can this happen from such a small little bug? The doc said I should start to improve by the end of the week. Not sure how I'm gonna make it that far in this condition. Apparently pain management is all he can offer me at this point. Yeah, this is a week I won't soon forget. Vacation stories will start tomorrow. I promise.
This was the first time in a very long time that I traveled with no laptop. I was jittery for the first few days, but I slowly eased into being 'unconnected.' Of course it didn't stop me from continuing to write every day. I did it the old fashioned way . . . with a notebook and pen and I plan to document the trip here on the blog over the next week. All in all we had a great time. I stuggled with being sick for most of it, but as you will see, it wasn't so bad. And speaking of being sick, I'm still not feeling well and I truly look forward to the day when I awake and feel human again. Hopefully that will happen soon. So stay tuned for vacation stories and pictures, and in the meantime here's my week in pictures for week 15.
#100 My self portrait on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale. We spent the first day and half being beach bums.
#101 First day on the ship and Karlo can't put down that damned Kindle. He's like a cat curled into our cabin window. #102 Our first shore excursion was to Key West. What a fun little place. #103 Our second excursion was to Cozumel. I think I love it there. It was definitely the highlight of the trip. #104 Is it just me or does this picture make you dizzy? It was my favorite part of the ship - adults only, hot tubs, comfy chairs, and relaxing music. This was our 'day at sea.' #105 We spent the last day in South Beach, Miami taking in the art deco buildings and the beach. #106 We came home to a filthy house and it was time to start phase one of Spring Cleaning. The entire day was spent cleaning. Yuck. #107 Part 2 of Spring Cleaning Phase 1 included washing the dog beds. Imagine a whole hour with no bed? Horrifying, I know. So Peanut managed to find the bare beds that I tried to hide in the corner.
