Caribbean Vacation--A Diary--Day 3 Cozumel/Tulum Repost

(Disclaimer: only my books are professionally edited. Not my blogs)

They deleted my original blog. Here is the repost.

April 13th,

In 2006 I went to Cancun for 4 days to celebrate my new life after my divorce. While there, I traversed through the Mayan ruins deep in the Yucatan jungle, Chi-Chen-Itza. Due to my short stay, I never got to see the other Mayan ruins near Cozumel, Tulum.

I began researching our excursions for our Caribbean cruise and saw, to my delight, Tulum was included! Finally, after nearly 5 years, I had a chance to go. As I read through the description of the tour, they mentioned having to go to the main land via ferry boat. Our ship had to dock on the island of San Miguel De Cozumel because there we no where to dock on the main land. The part that troubled me was that the water may be rough and to take precaution.

Armed with Dramamine and bread products for breakfast, I headed to the dock. I was feeling good until I saw the “ferry.” It was an enclosed pontoon speed boat. I kept looking for the windows—there had to be windows. They were covered up with black netting!



The barf boat/Cozumel ferry

I’m claustrophobic, and the thought of being stuck in that thing for 30-45 minutes was making me feel uncomfortable.
I can’t get out.
I can’t see.
I wasn’t happy.

Think of Tulum. Pretty water. Ruins. Anything but this.
They shut the doors. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest.
You can do this, I tried to encourage myself. My stomach wasn’t buying the psycho babble.

Most tours hand out complimentary drinks or a snack.
They handed out barf bags.
Oh, Holy Hell!

Then they started the TV with the sound at a piercing volume. I thought if I watched it, it would relax me. Focusing on it made me sick. Travis and I discovered if we closed our eyes it made us feel better. I had to work hard on finding my happy place. He fell asleep.

Finally the engine slowed; the doors opened. I couldn’t get out fast enough. But what greeted me made it worth while. Turquoise water caressed soft, white sand. A light wind tickled palm fronds lining the beach.

We were quickly herded into our excursion category and told we couldn’t shop at any of the stores. My husband saw a Green Bay Packer’s poncho hanging in one of the shops and vowed, come hell or high water, he’d buy one.

After a 45 minute bus ride and a 10 minute walk, we arrived at Tulum. It was beautiful, but was disappointed that the ancient buildings were roped off, including the grass. At Chi-Chen-Itza you get to climb and touch the buildings, except for the large pyramid. Too many people were falling off of it, and after climbing up to the observatory on small, damp steps, I could see why.

We only got to walk around for 45 minutes, which included the 10 minute walk back to the bus. This gave me little time to enjoy what I was seeing. It was click-a-picture-and-run.



Local inhabitant

They had workers in red shirts working on a few of the buildings who ended up in our photos, which was kind of annoying.

Tulum was worth seeing, but I didn’t have the same amazing experience as I did at Chi-Chen-Itza. I felt cheated on time to fully explore and interact with history.

The ride back to our ship loomed in the back of my mind. I kept asking God if it were possible to sit near a window this time. Maybe I could pull back the netting just enough to see. My prayer was answered when we were the first group on. I ran for the front row window.

This ferry was larger and had regular pull-down shades. Immediately, I opened the shade. I didn’t care what anyone said. Apparently no one else cared, either, because every shade was pulled up. The twelve miles back was much more enjoyable.

As soon as we docked, Travis ran for the shops. We had twenty minutes before we had to board ship. Travis started asking the shop vendors, who were relaxing outside, if they had the Packers poncho. Sure enough, one of them got up and found the item. Meanwhile, I found a Cozumel tee-shirt with the Mayan Calendar and a gecko that changed colors in the sun.

There were other items I wanted to buy, but we were short on time and Travis brought the wrong credit card. I personally think it was a plot to keep me from spending money.

That night we ate at our first specialty restaurant, The Murano. It was the best dinner I’ve ever eaten in my life.

To clean our pallet, we were given salmon mousse with caviar. In all honesty, it tasted like tuna fish and I don’t do caviar. I gave it to Travis who loved it. I had crispy, seared sweetbread followed by a fancy salad that looked like art while hubby had the warm goat cheese souffle and creamy maine lobster bisque.

The main course was the Surf and Turf, fillet minion with red wine veal sauce and the largest lobster I’ve ever seen done Thermidor style.

Dessert consisted of a selection of six shot-glasses filled with yummy goodness. After dessert, they gave us more chocolates. Now I’m a person who never, ever gives up sweets, but I was so full, I had them package it to go.

We decided to walk off the dinner. We made our way to the upper deck to walk the track around the ship.

Lesson: never walk in the wind with a flowy dress. A gust of wind came up behind me and blew the back of my dress nearly over my head so everyone could view my polka-dotted Victoria’s Not-So-Secret underwear. Frantically, I recovered the dress to its desired position.

I turned to see if anyone saw the display and, sure enough, there was a young guy behind me with a look on his face of shock. I just started laughing hysterically. Travis was clueless to the entire event.

That was a good way to end a perfect day for sure!

Caribbean Vacation--A Diary--Day Three

(Disclaimer: only my books are professionally edited. Not my blogs.)

April 13th

In 2006 I went to Cancun for 4 days to celebrate my new life after my divorce. While there, I traversed through the Mayan ruins deep in the Yucatan jungle, Chi-Chen-Itza. Due to my short stay, I never got to see the other Mayan ruins near Cozumel, Tulum.

I began researching our excursions for our Caribbean cruise and saw, to my delight, Tulum was included! Finally, after nearly 5 years, I had a chance to go. As I read through the description of the tour, they mentioned having to go to the main land via ferry boat. Our ship had to dock on the island of San Miguel De Cozumel because there was no where to dock on the main land. The part that troubled me was that the water may be rough and to take precaution.

Armed with Dramamine and bread products for breakfast, I headed to the dock. I was feeling good until I saw the “ferry.” It was an enclosed pontoon speed boat. I kept looking for the windows—there had to be windows. They were covered up with black netting!


The Barf Boat, Cozumel Ferry.

I’m claustrophobic, and the thought of being stuck in that thing for 30-45 minutes made me feel uncomfortable.

I can’t get out.
I can’t see.
I wasn’t happy.

Tulum. Pretty water. Ruins. Anything but this.
They shut the doors. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest.
You can do this, I tried to encourage myself. My stomach wasn’t buying the psycho babble.

Most tours hand out complimentary drinks or a snack.
They handed out barf bags.
Oh, Holy Hell!

Then they started the TV with the sound at a piercing volume. I thought if I watched it, it would relax me. Focusing on it made me sick. Travis and I discovered if we closed our eyes it made us feel better. I had to work hard on finding my happy place. He fell asleep.

Finally the engine slowed; the doors opened. I couldn’t get out fast enough. But what greeted me made it worth while. Turquoise water caressed soft, white sand. A light wind tickled palm fronds lining the beach.

We were quickly herded into our excursion category and told we couldn’t shop at any of the stores. My husband saw a Green Bay Packers poncho hanging in one of the shops and vowed, come hell or high water, he’d buy one.

After a 45 minute bus ride and a 10 minute walk, we arrived at Tulum. It was beautiful, but was disappointed that the ancient buildings were roped off, including the grass. At Chi-Chen-Itza you get to climb and touch the buildings, except for the large pyramid. Too many people were falling off of it, and after climbing up to the observatory on small, damp steps, I could see why.

Local inhabitant.

We only got to walk around for 45 minutes, which included the 10 minute walk back to the bus. This gave me little time to enjoy what I was seeing. It was click-a-picture-and-run.

They had workers in red shirts working on a few of the buildings who ended up in our photos, which was kind of annoying.

Tulum was worth seeing, but I didn’t have the same amazing experience as I did at Chi-Chen-Itza. I felt cheated on time to fully explore and interact with history.

The ride back to our ship loomed in the back of my mind. I kept asking God if it were possible to sit near a window this time. Maybe I could pull back the netting just enough to see. My prayer was answered when we were the first group on. I ran for the front row window.

This ferry was larger and had regular pull-down shades. Immediately, I opened the shade. I didn’t care what anyone said. Apparently no one else cared, either, because every shade was pulled up. The twelve miles back was much more enjoyable.

As soon as we docked, Travis ran for the shops. We had twenty minutes before we had to board ship. Travis started asking the shop vendors, who were relaxing outside, if they had the Packers poncho. Sure enough, one of them got up and found the item. Meanwhile, I found a Cozumel tee-shirt with the Mayan Calendar and a gecko that changed colors in the sun.

There were other items I wanted to buy, but we were short on time and Travis brought the wrong credit card. I personally think it was a plot to keep me from spending money.

That night we ate at our first specialty restaurant, The Murano. It was the best dinner I’ve ever eaten in my life.

To clean our pallet, we were given salmon mousse with caviar. In all honesty, it tasted like tuna fish and I don’t do caviar. I gave it to Travis who loved it. I had crispy, seared sweetbread followed by a fancy salad that looked like art while hubby had the warm goat cheese souffle and creamy maine lobster bisque.

The main course was the Surf and Turf, fillet minion with red wine veal sauce and the largest lobster I’ve ever seen done Thermidor style.

Dessert consisted of a selection of six shot-glasses filled with yummy goodness. After dessert, they gave us more chocolates. Now I’m a person who never, ever gives up sweets, but I was so full, I had them package it to go.

We decided to walk off the dinner. We made our way to the upper deck to walk the track around the ship.

Lesson: never walk in the wind with a flowy dress. A gust of wind came up behind me and blew the back of my dress nearly over my head so everyone could view my polka-dotted Victoria’s Not-So-Secret underwear. Frantically, I recovered the dress to its desired position.

I turned to see if anyone saw the display and, sure enough, there was a young guy behind me with a look on his face of shock. I just started laughing hysterically. Travis was clueless to the entire event.

That was a good way to end a perfect day for sure!

Our sunset for the evening.

Caribbean Cruise Vacation -- Day 2

April 12

Sea day. Sea days marked lazy days of sleeping, relaxing and swimming in the solarium, the indoor pool.

This is where we were after melting on long, hot excursions as well as sea days. The tranquil atmosphere was filled with the sound of this lighted waterfall and classical music. There were only a few days they turned on the fiber-optic light show. No one under 18 was allowed, and I was protected from the harsh sun from the outdoor pool.

First day at sea signified formal night which promised a good dinner. I love dressing for formal night since I rarely get to dress up for events. We lined up for formal pictures in various back-drops; however, they were out-done by God's creation outside.

Caribbean Vacation -- A Diary -- First Day

April 11 -- First Day on the Ship, Celebrity Equinox.

The first day of exploring a new ship is exhilarating. We got on board around 1:00 and headed up to the food trough known as the Sea View Cafe. The food was good, but the variety was . . . well, strange. Catering to higher-class taste buds.

After eating, we ventured through the ship while waiting for the state room to be ready for us. The first stop on the agenda, go to the specialty restaurants and book our reservations. Remember how I mentioned I saw butterflies every day on our trip? The corridor to the fancy dining was butterfly alley. Beautiful pictures of butterflies lined the walls, each lit by their own light hanging above the frame. I had to smile.

The next compartment to explore was the upper deck with the swimming pool, solarium (indoor pool), and the grassy section. Yes, they had grass on board! Being from Arizona where grass is as foreign as a good Italian restaurant, I was thrilled!

Finally we were cleared to go to our rooms. The first item to be relocated was that stupid, unnecessary coffee table they put in every room. Cruisers, you know what I'm talking about. Due to the closet/bathroom arrangement we were able to put it right by the cabin door and put my makeup and extra towels on it.

Travis began unpacking. His suitcase was sprawled out in the middle of the floor. Attempting to walk around the annoying obstacle that just had to be in the middle of the floor, I slipped on the open top and my foot went under the wooden couch frame. As I attempted to dislodge my foot, I scrapped it and managed to bruise the top of my foot. It hurt like hell and began turning red immediately. Great, first day and I hurt the top of my foot. All I could think about was trying to walk and hike on our excursions and being in pain or not being able to get into my shoes with the swelling.

I sat down and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and began icing it and took 4 Ibuprofen. Our state room attendant came by and saw I injured myself and got me an ice bag. Thanks to my quick thinking, my foot didn't hurt or cause me issues, although the colors were very pretty.

Click on the picture and you can see the foot on the right has red bands on it from the bruising and pattern of my shoe.

Leaving Ft. Lauderdale, we encountered a sunset outside of Miami I call Tangerine Dreams. It was one of many breath-taking sunsets we would see. The buildings of Miami looked surreal, like whitish-gray ghosts from a forgotten city.

Pulling out of dry-dock. My Jedi-Mind-Master outfit.

Holy Tea – A Bowel Story

Part 1 – A History

(Disclaimer--Keep in mind all of my books are professionally edited. Not my blogs.)

There was a time in my life I was extremely jealous of other people. It wasn’t for their status, their things, their wealth—it was because they could go to the potty on a regular basis! You may think this is stupid, trivial, down-right ridiculous even unless you suffer from this annoying ailment yourself.

So many people suffer from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or other equally as fun disorders of the bowel. Nothing is worse than being constantly constipated leaving me able to, if I’m lucky, go to the bathroom once a week. By then, it is usually a painful process of trying to eliminate golf balls or I get so fed up I take a laxative and prepare for the painful cramping and the diarrhea that leaves me feeling exhausted and dehydrated.

Oh, and an extra fun bonus, fiber makes me worse! I could eat salad, fiber cereals and drink water and fiber drinks until the cows came home and it only made it worse. According to my mother’s doctors, water isn’t getting into the intestinal ducts properly to aide the fiber, so I may as well be eating cement.

Yes, there are medications that can be taken—unless you’re my family. In our family what works for others doesn’t work for us and usually things are completely opposite.

Most, if not all, the medications warn to not use if you have ulcers or acid reflux disease. I have both and was unable to take medications. I even got sick on the acid reflux medication prescribed to me. I felt like I had the flu, and it seemed to make my bowels more irritable making me feel like I was going to throw up.

So this leads me to my family history. All the women in my family have this issue. We all have a grab-bag of disorders. God either got bored one day or someone in the family pissed off a gypsy. None of us have the same problems but the one. My grandmother fought The Great Battle of the Bowels to the point she had the opposite problem and developed chronic diarrhea. I thought it was just my grandmother that went through this terrible complication. Then I realized my mother was having the same issues. I saw how sick she was becoming, heard about all the procedures she underwent.

The sad conclusion for my mother, which also translates over to the rest of my family, became Chronic Idiopathic Constipation. In short, “We have no idea what you have and how to fix it, but here is another pill.” My mom, and I’m sure my grandmother, became frustrated with uncaring doctors and their prescription pads scribbled with false hope.

None of these pharmaceutical “miracle” pills worked for my mother. If something did work, it quit after a very short time.

Funny note about prescription medications: they kill the natural flora in your bowels. So you take the medication to eliminate the waste, but at the same time you’re killing the good bacteria in your body that is essential for this process. It only becomes a vicious cycle with no actual healing or cure.

I knew I was in for the same fate since my problems were only getting worse and nothing was helping. There was a time when I actually wished God would end my life before I reached that critical point. My younger sister was showing signs, too.

I HATE medical procedures—in fact, I’d call it a phobia. I have panic attacks around needles and blood. I don’t go to the doctor unless it is my yearly pap exam and that makes me hyperventilate. I haven’t had my blood drawn since I was two. There was no way I could imagine going through all the procedures my mom went through.

Along with not being able to go to the bathroom are weigh-gain, bloating, and painful gassy cramps that leave you crying on the potty. Some days I looked like I was six months pregnant. My lower back hurt from carrying the weight, and I didn’t feel good. My periods were the worst! Painful cramps interfered with my life and sometimes caused me to go home from work.

I also have a condition called Candida, bad yeast, in my body. This gut-full-of-fun gave me bad breath, a funny sour taste in my mouth, and a white-coated tongue. I’m sure it was a contributing factor in the bloating, too. You can imagine what that does for my self-confidence! I got this from constantly being diagnosed with Bacterial Vaginosis and given prescription medication. It took an OBGYN who knew what they were doing to tell me that I was a carrier and my body would have out-breaks and heal itself and no amount of medication would cure this. It was just a part of me. But the damage had been done. I tried taking a natural supplement, but it made me sick—what a shocker—and it didn’t seem to work.

I’m now 40. I recently went on vacation for 11 nights in the Caribbean. I was constipated 8 days of the cruise. Horrible bloating, cramps and not being able to fit in my clothes put a bit of a damper on my fun and made me self-conscious in my swimsuit.

Shortly before the cruise, my mom was going on about this stuff called Holy Tea. I decided I was going to try it when I got home.

My new chapter begins . . . . May my journey offer others hope.

Part II 

On Wednesday, I finally got my Holy Tea in the mail, quickly opened it and began brewing the magical blend.

So what is Holy Tea? http://www.astrologyzine.com/health/holy-tea-questions.shtml

BREWING INSTRUCTIONS: The directions that come with the package suck to say the least. Heat up 1 Quart of water. DO NOT BOIL. Use two tea bags and let sit covered for 4-6 hours. Refrigerate WITH the tea bags.

That night I drank my 8 oz of tea as the directions indicated. It tasted like any other herbal tea, and I felt good. The next day, however, things were not so pleasant. I was going to the bathroom, but my stomach was upset, burning and I and felt warm. By Friday I was miserable.

I was suffering the past few days from:

• Headaches
• Fever
• Stomachache along with a burning sensation
• Sore, tight muscles
• Gassy (Warn your loved ones and pets to steer clear!)
• Feeling strange and disoriented

I called my mom and she said she didn’t experience any of this. Of course, I’d be the one having all the fun! Not everyone will experience this. It depends on how your body detoxes.

Saturday morning, around 1:00 AM, I was in so much pain. I found the page I mention above. Then I realized why I was experiencing these symptoms. The bad bacteria were dying off and releasing the toxins. It was doing its job. Read more about this on their page.

Thankfully I found this page because I nearly quit!

My Solution

I began with smaller doses of tea only once a day. Although they indicated that too weak of a tea may not give you the desired results, it was working for me. I drank 4 oz of tea diluted to make 8 oz and drank it once a day every other day for a few days. Once my system was geared up for the detox, I began drinking 8 oz at full strength every day.

I am on my second week of the tea, and I will continue blogging the results. So far I'm pleased with the results, but it will be a long journey to complete wellness. I hope this helps you. If you experience unpleasant symptoms, DON'T STOP!

It has been 8 weeks. I drink 8 oz daily. Make sure you drink lots of water/fluids or it will constipate you. I eat before drinking the tea. I don't take the tea at night because for some reason I can't sleep. Not sure why. This is a tea you experiment with to get your desired results. For the first time, I'm able to go to the bathroom every day.

It is now October and my life has really changed. My skin and health has greatly improved. I have started exercising, changing my eating habits and feel incredible. This is an amazing journey to rediscovering my health! In fact my results have been so noticeable, my husband is now drinking the tea.

Caribbean Vacation--A Diary

August 2010 my husband and I booked an 11 night cruise to the Caribbean on Celebrity for April 2011. For nine months I was looking forward to a much needed vacation. Slowly the calendar rolled around to the magical day of April 8, 2011.

The flight to Ft. Lauderdale, FL, was four hours. I was anxious to see Florida again after eight years. It was my favorite place to live.

What amazed me about this vacation is from day one until day 14, we saw nothing but butterflies. They were everywhere! The flight attendant had on a butterfly badge holder and a ring. I just knew the flight would be smooth and uneventful. I even got to sit in the bulkhead—my favorite place to sit so I can get off the plane when it lands without having a panic attack. In the Ft. Lauderdale airport I saw a gold butterfly in the mosaic floor tiles.

Lush, green plant life, palm trees, white sand and the turquoise ocean greeted me. April humidity was low and it was breezy. Florida was just how I remembered it. I was homesick.

April 9th:

A Packer’s fan and friend of my husbands’ decided he wanted to show us the great places of his home. I lived in Tampa, so this was all new to me as well. He took us to a great Italian restaurant, Umberto’s of Long Island, he’s been frequenting for decades. This little hole-in-the-wall was worth the drive to Hollywood.

Upon returning to our hotel, he drove us to another hot spot called Grandpa’s Bakery and Restaurant. He told us that we absolutely had to eat there before we left for our cruise. This hole-in-the-wall had been around for decades as well and made it to the Food Network Channel. Then he showed us Jackson’s Ice Cream Parlor in the next parking lot and said the same thing. The line to this establishment was long outside the door and there were crowds of people eating outside.

April 10th:

The next morning we drove back to Grandpa’s and waited in the long line to be seated. In the meanwhile, you were tortured with the bakery case full of homemade goodies that got your appetite stirring. We were not disappointed with the wait or the breakfast. They were not skimpy on the food.

Along with water, we received apple fritter pastries while we waited for our order. Plates flowing with food were distributed to other tables around us giving us a glimpse into what we were to expect. In the past few months I quit eating hash browns and french fries, but I couldn't resist the buttery-golden-brown goodness covering my omelet.

These were free! Handed to us as we waited.

There is an omelet under there somewhere!

That night, we returned to Jackson’s with our friend and waited in another long line. Many flavors of ice cream tantalized my taste buds as I salivated over the menu trying to decide what I wanted. The ice cream was incredible and they didn’t skimp on the amount either. Vanity llicense plates from all states adorned the walls. Old-fashion bikes, wagons, pots, jars hung from the ornate ceiling. In the front was an old piano and one of those scary looking fortune teller machines.

I hadn’t even begun the cruise and I was already gaining the pounds!