NYE Western Cruise 2008 - New Thread

[nskjerven]

and the rest of you are CRAZY in a good way

Aisling, sorry about Mel, glad you are still going.

 

[Aisling]

Perhaps Tigg can go in PLACE of Mel in your room Aisling....

That would be great, but we'd still have to win Lotto first!!!!

 

[tiggerwannabe]

Penny got a clean bill of health at the vet today...

I've been printing Mika pictures for Brittany and Mika's breeder. We are going to that Akita picnic tomorrow and I promised to bring a photo of Mika to Jo. I picked up her ashes today. She's in a cedar box with a lock and a key and a gold plate with her AKC name "Mika Lady of Aces" on it. I took pictures and will post em later~We also got a card that included a dedication and the Rainbow Bridge poem in it. Brittany, John and I shed a few tears today.

My lawn guy also came by and I have another photo shoot to do for his band on the 4th of October-ergo, today's lawncare was free! I also offered to take over building his website since the guy he gave the job to hasn't done a thing. I've built em before, no reason I can't help em out by building one for them.

 

[Aisling]

Tig, I'm happy you have Mika's ashes back.

 

[tiggerwannabe]

Kelly, I'm praying for a lottery win as well...

without that, you will simply have to agree to sail with this crew again~

I am very, very sad that I am not able to sail with you guys.

I knew for a week that we were going to cancel but the denail stage I was in wouldn't accept that as truth. I was thrown out of denial when my TA confimed it was cancelled~

The optimist in me has a backup plan for sure...

When classes start up again, I am training to become a travel agent!

I've signed on with MEI travel and my friend Rose agreed to do it with me!

Rose and I have been dreaming of being TAs together for years~

Thank to Beci at MEI, I think that dream is finally going to happen

bonus is the perks tend to include lotsa travel!

 

[tiggerwannabe]

I just made a slideshow...I call it

~Happy Memories~

...clicky clicky...

 

[tiggerwannabe]

These are clickable also-but not slideshows:

The flower basket Rose's family sent us and Mika's paw print...



the cat getting way too close, with Mika not around Penny is there to protect me...
John insists that my PC background be a photo of His Dog...



the next two are Mika's box and her pawprint and a photo of her lit every night by a candle...



I am in the process of clearing a shelf off, cause she obviously needs more room...

 

[Aisling]

I just saw your Mika pictures. The last ones with the box of her ashes, her photo right there, the dim lighting...beautiful. Your Mika is always with you.

The optimist in me has a backup plan for sure...

When classes start up again, I am training to become a travel agent!

I've signed on with MEI travel and my friend Rose agreed to do it with me!

Rose and I have been dreaming of being TAs together for years~

Thank to Beci at MEI, I think that dream is finally going to happen

bonus is the perks tend to include lotsa travel!

This is GREAT news! I know you mentioned this idea a while ago, and FINALLY you got off the couch, put down the bag of chips, turned off Days of Our Lives, ...................J/K!!!!!!!!!!! You have been trying so hard, sending out resume's, going to interviews, scouring the papers, going to school...I'm THRILLED that this may be the perfect job for you.

 

[trinibjill]

I just saw your Mika pictures. The last ones with the box of her ashes, her photo right there, the dim lighting...beautiful. Your Mika is always with you.




This is GREAT news! I know you mentioned this idea a while ago, and of Our You have been trying so hard, sending out resume's, going to interviews, scouring the papers, going to school...I'm THRILLED that this may be the perfect job for you.

That is my baby girl. You go girl. Make momma proud.

 

[tiggerwannabe]

I can't help but think that if I'm gonna make anything of the talents I have, it's gotta happen now. This is the third phase of my life and a very important one. My next phase should occur around 50-55 and I'd really like to be settled and streamlining my path to retirement by then. (As opposed to still trying to figure out what I wanna be when I grow up )

My ability to think up ways for others to use their talents may come into play. I'm thinking of becoming a talent manager to writers, models, athletes and musicians. If I can take my talent for organizing and use it to help others succeed, I got it made. .. but that's my dream. I have an appt with unemployment's tuition assitance and am gonna see if they'll pay for me to go to the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. (They're school is about 30 minutes away from me.) My fate and my path should be more known by next week on Friday.

 

[Aisling]

I just got some FANTASTIC news!!!!!!!! My brother John who's stationed at Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota and has been preparing for his third tour of duty in Iraq, has just been put on notice that he and his family will be transferred to Mildenhall (some name like that) Royal Air Base in ENGLAND for the next 4 years!!!!!! You know what that means, I'm going to England within the next 4 years! Woo hoo! My father is thrilled because now John will have a teaching position instead of being sent to the desert, and his family will experience another culture. My mother hates it because she won't get on an airplane or ship, so she won't see him for 4 years. Just think, my baby nephew Joshua who'll be a year old next month will learn to speak with a British accent! How cute will that be! I'm so happy!

 

[tiggerwannabe]

 

[nskjerven]

Aisling why would anyone want to leave North Dakota, especially for England???? Ok you have to have been to ND to get this, huh? Great news and you will love your visit abroad.

 

[Anjelica]

Hey everyone!!!

Sorry for not updating you guys sooner but it's been a whirlwind week. Here is the current status:

Chas was hit on Monday, September 1st in Mosul Iraq by a "kid" throwing an exploding IED, while Chas was driving. Including himself, all four members of the vehicle were injured.

- Chas was the most severe at the time of the incident as they had to amputate his right leg back on the forward operating base right above the knee - they had to take more over the course of the period due to bad tissue and infection. The other three soldiers ranged from shrapnel wounds to the arm to other leg and lower body issues.

- Chas made it to Luthansthl (sp?) in Germany a week ago Wednesday. My sister, who's husband is stationed out of Aviano, Italy (however he is in Kuwait) was able to fly from there to Germany to be by my brother's side. During all of his medevacs he was on a ventilator due to the burns, etc. to his lungs.

- Chas thankfully made it to Walter Reed this past Friday on September 5th. I drove all day from St. Louis to Walter Reed and was at his bedside by 1130pm that evening. He was pretty much out of it and still on the ventilator.

- Starting with last Saturday, September 6th he has had every other day surgeries to clean his right leg up which included taking more bone as his bone was sticking out (sorry for the gory details) and basically preparing it to be closed up (i.e. pulling the skin down, etc.) and eventually preparing it for use on the prostethics. I'm happy to say they closed up his wound today and we are crossing our fingers that he won't have to have any more surgeries, etc.

- Chas was taken off the ventilator on Saturday, September 6th as well. He has made remarkable strides with pain management, food intake, etc. He started solid foods on Sunday, September 7th and was talking pretty regularly once they took the ventilator out on Saturday, September 6th.

- His lungs are doing great and the superficial wounds on his hands and face (burns) have done great and will probably be completely healed by next week.

- Although Chas was the most severe from his unit in terms of injuries he has made quick and better strides than the others. However I have met them all and they will all be fine in the end - physically at least.

- My father and sudo step-mom have been here this past week as well as I. Our mother and step-dad came in last night from Guantanamo Bay (long story). His emotional state has gone full circle but I think having the family there has been absolutely great for him. I do worry about it when we have to go home to our families but he is here with others in the same situation.

- We have been told he will walk and run again and if he works for it has every chance to stay in the Army. He may just need to change his MOS (he's a combat engineer so he may have to change to a different type of work).

I am here for at least another week and then will be heading home for a bit. I wanted to help get him through the first stage of this and hopefully he will be ok when we leave (I plan on coming back and bringing the kids with me next time).

I am sorry if I don't get alot of chances to check our respond to you guys but I know you all understand.

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and prayers. They truly did help.

 

[Aisling]

Aisling why would anyone want to leave North Dakota, especially for England???? Ok you have to have been to ND to get this, huh? Great news and you will love your visit abroad.

I HAVE been to North Dakota. Last February I flew to Minneapolis, rented a car, and drove the 5 hours to Grand Forks, North Dakota.
A few years ago I took a bus trip with my kids, 2 days long, from NYC to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, so I am familiar with that part of the country...flat landscape, hardly any people, farms, tornadoes, beautiful if you're a nature lover, and boring if you're a city girl.

Nan, doesn't Paul have a strong Dakota connection, with an airfield named after a relative?

And get this, my brother wants to give me his new minivan! The catch, I have to fly to Minneapolis again, get a one-way rental to ND, get the minivan, and drive it back to NYC. I'm going to sell my current minivan to pay for my airplane ticket and extras. He has two cars, and he doesn't want to take both with him to England, so he thought of me, since mine is on it's way out. I am uncomfortable in small cars, so I stick to SUVs or minivans.

Hey cruise gang, did you all know that Paul's family is famous in the Dakotas? Can't wait to see you again, Paul (AKA Chicken-in-the-Cupboard}! Now Chad will be of legal age to have a man-to-man beer with you!


Tig, have a wonderful, happy day tomorrow at the Akita auction!

Brenda, how's Ryan doing with his diving certification?

I'm watching the Hurricane Ike coverage on Fox news, it'll be on all night, they said. I heard that gas priced were $5.29 already in Tallahassee because of the Gulf refineries being closed down from the storm. I'm wondering if it'll affect gas prices here in the northeast. I'm thinking of going out to fill my tank. I don't know what to do.

 

[Aisling]

Oh Anjelica, we've been so concerned. Thank you for letting us know what's been happening. I'm glad he's back in the states where he belongs! I'll be hoping for better and better news as you continue to fill us in.

Do your children, well Sydney, understand what happened to her uncle?

 

[nskjerven]

I HAVE been to North Dakota. Last February I flew to Minneapolis, rented a car, and drove the 5 hours to Grand Forks, North Dakota.
A few years ago I took a bus trip with my kids, 2 days long, from NYC to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, so I am familiar with that part of the country...flat landscape, hardly any people, farms, tornadoes, beautiful if you're a nature lover, and boring if you're a city girl.

Nan, doesn't Paul have a strong Dakota connection, with an airfield named after a relative?

And get this, my brother wants to give me his new minivan! The catch, I have to fly to Minneapolis again, get a one-way rental to ND, get the minivan, and drive it back to NYC. I'm going to sell my current minivan to pay for my airplane ticket and extras. He has two cars, and he doesn't want to take both with him to England, so he thought of me, since mine is on it's way out. I am uncomfortable in small cars, so I stick to SUVs or minivans.

Hey cruise gang, did you all know that Paul's family is famous in the Dakotas? Can't wait to see you again, Paul (AKA Chicken-in-the-Cupboard}! Now Chad will be of legal age to have a man-to-man beer with you!


Tig, have a wonderful, happy day tomorrow at the Akita auction!

Brenda, how's Ryan doing with his diving certification?

I'm watching the Hurricane Ike coverage on Fox news, it'll be on all night, they said. I heard that gas priced were $5.29 already in Tallahassee because of the Gulf refineries being closed down from the storm. I'm wondering if it'll affect gas prices here in the northeast. I'm thinking of going out to fill my tank. I don't know what to do.

I knew you visited and I'm sure you've seen the boringness of it.

Yes Paul's family is from ND. His uncle has an airport named after him...WC Skjerven Field in Park River ND. Yes Wilson is also a WC Skjerven. We loved Paul's uncle dearly and wanted to continue the tradition in his family.

Paul chuckled when I told him about a beer with Chad. I think he is starting to get a bit happy about the cruise. I'm glad, because at first he was very held back on the whole idea, even telling me to go without him and you who know him know that is odd.

Anjelica: So glad to hear your update. Prayers are continuing

 

[CustardTart]

I just got some FANTASTIC news!!!!!!!! My brother John who's stationed at Grand Forks AFB in North Dakota and has been preparing for his third tour of duty in Iraq, has just been put on notice that he and his family will be transferred to Mildenhall (some name like that) Royal Air Base in ENGLAND for the next 4 years!!!!!! You know what that means, I'm going to England within the next 4 years! Woo hoo! My father is thrilled because now John will have a teaching position instead of being sent to the desert, and his family will experience another culture. My mother hates it because she won't get on an airplane or ship, so she won't see him for 4 years. Just think, my baby nephew Joshua who'll be a year old next month will learn to speak with a British accent! How cute will that be! I'm so happy!

Oooh how fab, Aisling!!! You have to visit and we HAVE to get together!!! Maybe come on a rumoured 2010 Baltic cruise...? Here's a link showing where Mildenhall is on a map of England...

 

[CustardTart]

...I am sorry if I don't get alot of chances to check our respond to you guys but I know you all understand.

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and prayers. They truly did help.

Thanks for updating us, Anjelica... Still sending P&PD to Chas - I hope he continues to improve...

 

[artman]

Things sound as good or better than can be expected Angelica, still thinking of you and your family.

Here is what we have booked.

Day 1 - Port Canaveral - Saturday, December 27, 2008
No activities reserved

Day 2 - Key West - Sunday, December 28, 2008
Palo DinnerARTHUR ROBAR
CLAUDIA ROBAR
8:30PM

Day 3 - At Sea - Monday, December 29, 2008
Elemis Exotic Hand Ritual with ManicureCLAUDIA ROBAR
9:45AM-10:30AM
Well Being MassageCLAUDIA ROBAR
10:30AM-11:20AM

Day 4 - Grand Cayman - Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Pirate EncounterARTHUR ROBAR
CLAUDIA ROBAR
OWEN ROBAR
9:30AM-12:00PM

Day 5 - Cozumel - Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Dolphin Swim at DolphinarisARTHUR ROBAR
CLAUDIA ROBAR
OWEN ROBAR
9:15AM-1:15PM

Day 6 - At Sea - Thursday, January 1, 2009
Palo BrunchARTHUR ROBAR
CLAUDIA ROBAR
10:30AM

Day 7 - Castaway Cay - Friday, January 2, 2009
ParasailingARTHUR ROBAR
CLAUDIA ROBAR
OWEN ROBAR
10:30AM-11:30AM