Christmas is coming the washing machine is breathless!

How do you know your kids came home from University in the middle of the night? Because you cannot get out of the back door as it is blocked by bags and bags of laundry....bless them. I had every intention of waiting up but when I found out they did not leave New Hampshire until about 5pm and it would be a midnight arrival at least I gave in, I had to get up for work the next morning. I sort of heard them arrive and then kissed their sleeping heads at 6.30am this morning as I departed for work. After today I am off for several days so there will be plenty of together time.

Its kind of festive around here. We had a 20 inch snowfall at the weekend so everywhere is very white and Christmassy, the tree is up, the presents are wrapped, because I was snowed in for a couple of days lots of baking in the house. Looking forward to spending Christmas Day mostly in my pj's. Just need to take a breath.

I finally took the plunge to reduce my hours at work from 4 days to 3. Probably not the best fiscal decision but for my emotional health and the endeavor to gain some balance for all of us in 2010 it will be a good thing. I am excited to be only working 30 hours a week rather than the 40+ I have been doing. I intend to run the dog and finally join that yoga class, read some more good literature, cook alot and just stop and smell the roses every now and again.

Elliot found out last week he recieved a place at NorthEastern University in Boston, his number one choice, very exciting day for him. We are so proud of him and know it will be a good fit for him, but ......whatever will I do with no kids in the house!! Ho Hum, will have to take up a new hobby!!!

Getting A Life

Life post University is a little strange but I am getting there and vastly enjoying having my life back. It is very relaxing approaching Christmas without juggling homework. It was actually a delight this year and not a pressure to decorate the house, took my time going through decorations from years ago, bringing back memories of when the boys were little. The tree goes up this weekend. We have been quite social in December too, which is a new thing. Last weekend, Colin and I went on the Polar Express Steam Train Ride because it is my favorite christmas movie, so what if the train was full of kids, we saw Santa and went to a favorite bar after for drinks and appetizers. Our newly formed gourmet food club meets again next week to taste great food and drink good wines together, that will surely be a highlight. Joe and Katie promise me they will come home at some point. They have had so much snow in New Hampshire already I think all their free time is spent with a snowboard attached to their ankles on the side of a mountain, I just keep saying....errrr...finals!! I am looking forward to baking and cooking and decorating and just enjoying the moment. But....and I know this will sound crazy, I do miss Grad School, I had got into a zone with research and homework and writing and connecting with fellow students, I have always enjoyed the collegiate experience. But as much as I miss it I am not going to do it again, it really did play chaos with my life and its time to move on to some fun-less-academic-activity.

Have a wonderful December, I certainly am.

Celebrations

Tis done. After two and a half years, 20 classes, over a hundred papers and team presentations, a practicum, a thesis (that literally nearly killed me)I have successfully completed graduate school and now can put MSN after my name. This is huge for me, really huge. I have dreamed since my 20's of going to graduate school, did not have the courage to do it until I was 40 and now at 43 I am done. I loved it, really loved it, did not love the pressure and chaos it created in my life but did love being a student and the learning experience. However, it took over my life completely, when I wasnt doing homework or preparing for the next assignment I was always thinking about school and now not to have that is going to be a little weird. However, it will be nice to get my life back and focus on family and be able to do Christmas without juggling a homework deadline. It will be nice to never have to worry about going away for a weekend because I had too much work to do and I could never be more than one day away from my laptop. I have been enriched in so many ways by the experience, first the sense of accomplishment is huge but I also learned so much about nursing theory, evidence based practice, cultural competency and how to juggle life, school, family , work (sometimes not well) We survived. I think everyone in our house has a big sigh of relief. I have been celebrating every night this week with just a teeny weeny glass of champagne - I deserve it.

Other celebration is Joe and Katie came home last night for Thanksgiving, they got a little lost on the way home and as a result did not get in until around 1am, we all stayed up to greet them (yawn) When i said "kids bring me home your laundry" they took me at my word....it will take me days, good job homework is over. So sooooo good to see them both. The family is complete again. I have not been this excited for Thanksgiving for years, we are going to have a wonderful week.

The Final Push!

In my last class, an ethics class. I was really looking forward to going out on an high because I love the conversation that ethical dilemma's generate and writing papers on the subject may be quasi enjoyable. But there is only one problem, the professor is a Nazi, and I mean that in the full sense of the word. And I am really disappointed it is robbing me the enjoyment of my final class of graduate school! (lets hope she does not read my blog otherwise I am toast!) Apparently my academic writing is below par becuase I write in passive voice - 2 and 1/2 years into grad school and its the first I heard of it. Apparently if I only write 280 words to a discussion question instead of the required 300 (who knew this was news to me) I will get a C that week instead of an A!!! For a highly functioning overachieving adult getting a C (the first ever in grad school) was very humbling and lost me sleep for at least a night. But I have regained my composure and I soldier on and apparently this week I am doing better so I may just squeak by! The G (graduation) date is November 30th, I am soooo excited I can hardly bare it, to be done, to be finished, to have finally achieved something I have been chasing for many many years. What will I do next..... who knows watch this space. This excitement of finishing grad school is only overtaken by the knowledge that all 3 kids will be home for Thanksgiving week. Gosh, I have missed them sooo much, I can hardly stand it. TO have them all here will be such a treat. This weekend we are off to Boston to look at Universities for Elliot, I can hardly believe we are at that point with him already, get the kleenex ready, there will be many many tears!

GirlFriends

I made a mistake at work last week, not perfect, I do make mistakes every now and again and try hard to learn from them when I do. In the scheme of things this was not a huge mistake, nobody died, nobody was even in danger of getting hurt (important factor in my job). However, one particular female collegue chose to expose my mistake in a very public way, presumably in an attempt to make me look small and her look superior. I find its usually women that do that to each other, why do we do that?

I have always struggled with female relationships, I am blessed to have had a few very close female relationships but the circle is small and is getting smaller as the older I get the trust I place in female friendships seems to diminish. I am not sure what the answer is, I suspect part of the reason for my lack of deep female friendships lies within me.

So, this issue at hand, the mistake I made at work, I chuntered about it all weekend, rehearsed in my head exactly what I was going to say to this person, in a perfect articulated and sophisticated way ( we are good at doing that in our head arn't we). When I got back to work on Monday and finally prepared to have "that difficult conversation" at the last minute decided not to be adversarial, not to be a doormat either but to return meanness with kindness. Result, my target was shocked and surprised and maybe a little embarrassed at my frank but reasonable approach and I had the privelege of having my say and walking away with my dignity intact.

Things That Make Me Happy :-)

- A snow day, when the whole world is forced to stop and all there is to be done is build a fire, make hot chocolate and snuggle under a quilt to read a good book.

- a free afternoon to go to the movies all by myself

- a long walk around the state park with Biggles, often I do not want to go but I always always feel better when I have

- finishing an assignment and realizing I actually quite like writing just dont enjoy doing it under pressure with a deadline pressing

- Sharing a fine meal with Colin and the kids

- Going to bed knowing I dont have to get up early the next morning

- A deep and luxurious bubble bath

- A good cup of english tea

- Making a Sunday roast dinner and taking all day to do it

- Howling over a really good book

- A vacation in a cottage by a lake at the foot of a mountain

- A very heavy snowstorm enjoyed from the inside

- Warm socks!

- Walking on a beach out of season, when its soooo cold it makes your nose and eyes run, watching the dog chase sea gulls and dash in and out of the water because he thinks he is brave

- A long chat with an old and trusted girlfriend

- a cold winters night, sitting in the family room with the lights off, mellow music playing staring into the flames of a roaring fire

- a summers evening spent on the deck drinking a chilled glass of chardonnay

- dancing dancing dancing

What Would I Want Written On My Gravestone

So following on from my previous blog of what would I want my legacy to be I have been working on a list.

1. First and foremost it is incredibly important to me that I have been important in the life of a child. One child will do but I do hope I have made a difference to many.

2. My personal belief that you can have transformation through education and that I can impart that to others, hopefully adolescents and young adults that cross my path.

3. Anything can be solved with chocolate

4. She made a damn good breakfast!

5. If you are in town you had better be at Angies dinner table on a Sunday night to break bread.....or else!!

6. When someone shows you meaness, return it with kindness

7. Never never give up.

8. Sometimes courage is not like a roaring lion, it can be that small quiet voice that says "in the morning I will try again".

9. Keshavan Nair:
With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.

10. Life is better with a dog!

A Challenging Few Weeks

Its been a stressful few weeks. About 2 months ago I started having some troubling GI issues that got worse over time (wont bore you with the details here, might put you off your dinner!). Eventually I took myself off to a specialist who listened to my story, examined me and then looked at me very seriously and said "we need to rule out colon cancer" Now dont think this had not already gone thru my mind, I know just enough to be annoyingly dangerous, and anyways I had already googled all my symptoms and decided I would be dead within the year of cancer (those of you who know me well know I have a tendancy to catastrophize) So off we went on a whirlwind of tests, buckets of blood tests, drank enough contrast to light up the night sky all on my own, preparing for a colonoscopy is no fun, nope no fun at all but the proceedure itself is not bad ( I love twilght amnesic drugs!)End result was "dont think" it is sinister, not thrilled about the lack of certainty on my physicians part but I will live with that right now. Just this week got my biopsy results which were negative. Kicker is still having horrible GI symptoms and still do not know what is wrong with me. I get totally annoyed with being sick, I have no time for it, way too much to do, so for now I am going to ignore it before I move onto the next round of specialists. Certain to say that I am not going to drop dead anytime soon and no bits are going to drop off. Thank goodness.

Anyways, during this whole trauma of "do I vs do not have a life limiting disease" I did a lot of deep thinking in preparation for bad news. What would I change if I only had a year to live? And you know what I came to the conclusion that I would not change a great deal. I would not quit my job, work is the great distracter for me and even though I have some tough days in pediatric oncology I would not quit my job, I find tremendous purpose in what I do. I would love to cut my days from 4 to 3 but with all 3 kids needing help with tuition for education that is not going to happen anytime soon. I would still want to run my household myself, have no great need for any grand trips, it is enough for me to see all the kids together, sit around the kitchen table and share a gourmet meal and a fine bottle of wine, maybe followed by a game of canasta. But what I did realize is I need to think more about what makes me happy and what would I want my legacy to be? These are maybe topics for future posts.

So, in the spirit of authentic living, a state I have been aspiring to for the last few years I share my struggle, it is not always plain sailing in the life of Angie. This whole process has not been without many tears, nothing could bring me to tears quicker than thinking about leaving Colin and the kids alone and never ever seeing my kids graduate, marry, have children of their own (please let it be noted I intend to be a damn good grandmother!), so Colin and I contemplated all possible outcomes (really sucks having too medical peeps in the family we tend to go to worst case scenario very quickly) but we are glad we do not have to face that for right now.

I soldier on, with a small amount of concern and a whole lot of joy!

It's Just Like Boiling An Egg!!

So I just came back from the most delicious movie, a personal indulgence on a late Saturday afternoon because my husband is in Colorado, Elliot is at work, Katie and Joe are at University and I worked my socks off for the best part of 2 days doing homework and so I indulged...I went to the movies. I went to see Julie and Julia, a movie I knew no other member of the family would go with me and it spoke to me....deeply and now I am very self reflective. Maybe its because I have been crazy all year with work and Grad School and most recently writing my thesis. When I have a bad day ( and I have a few!) the thing I want to do most is come home and cook for my family, it centers me, it comforts me and that is the premise of the movie Julie and Julia. And so I was transfixed throughout the whole movie, nothing else has quite spoken to my soul in a while, why...because it brings me back to the fundamentals, too often I overcomplicate things, am I doing enough at work, do people like me (who cares anyways) am I a good enough parent, wife, nurse, good enough anything. But the thing that always, has always brought me back is taking care of my family in the most basic of ways be that making scrambled egg for breakfast of Beouf Bourgingnon for dinner (one day I will bone that duck). Thank you Julie and Julia for bringing me back to myself.

Oh and by the way, passed the thesis with no rewrites, tickled pink, 2 more classes to go and then I am done....yeah!!!

I think I can make it!

Ten days ago I was having kittens about my thesis. Still not sleeping thru the night but I think I can make it. The bulk of the thesis is done, but still needs some work, now working on the portfolio that goes along with it, which is nearly as much work as the thesis, powerpoint, resume, journal, accompanying documents that prove evidence of accomplishments. By far this has been the most stressful class of the whole Graduate Program. But its due on Aug 24th and so only a few more days of pain to go. So sick of sitting up late doing homework so I took today off to get most of it done in daylight.....what a concept!

Thrill of the week Katie came home for a few days, how wonderful to see her. She has a few days before she leaves for her freshman trip on Saturday, and then we go up to New Hampshire again on the 28th to move her into dorms, feeling of deja vu, this time last year we did this with Joe, this time next year we will be doing it with Elliot by which time we will have gotten the sending the kid off to college thing down to a fine art!!

Anyways enough procrastinating off to homework I go

Vacation was when!

Quick I need another vacation, the one I just had seems a long long time ago and I came home to super stress....more on that later.

Vacation was awesome, I had not really been thinking about it, just knew it would be nice to get away. Dropped Elliot and the dog off at Joes house and Colin and I went to a really beautiful hotel on the coast near Portsmouth. Colin was in an incredible romantic mood all week, which I did not mind at all, nice to have all that attention and showered with gifts because he knows how stressed I have been at work and with grad school. We really did a whole lot of nothing, getting up late, wandering around cute coastal villages, picking out our retirement homes (pathetic I know). We then moved to another hotel about an hour north of Joe because it was on a huge lake and the best bit.....it had a spa. I am still reminiscing on the peach body scrub and vichy shower, and the couples massage was just heaven. The boys, Katie and dog came up for a couple of evenings to mess around on the lake in their kayaks and canoes, dog loved it. I loved sitting and watching them with a chilled glass of wine in my hand.

Big mistake was taking the Saturday to work on Joes house, mistake because all the hard labor undid all the relaxation of the week, but we worked like crazy people, used my weight in soap, kitchen towels and fabuloso, kitchen was gleaming, laundry room is a thing of beauty and finally a family room that you can see the floor has a coffee table (great Barn sale find) and finally it feels like a home. We finished so late we ended up staying the night, not doing that again, student accomodation is definitely not for me, whatever the time is I am taking my cute little body off to find a full service hotel!! But I know Joe was grateful about all we achieved.

Home, back to work and the realization that my thesis is due Aug 24th....now I knew this, have known this for a long time but was just ignoring it, buried it underneath all that other stuff I have been doing. But when I looked at the syllabus for the thesis class and realized how much I have to do by Aug 24th that I should have been working on all year and have not I just about fell over. So, as I cannot take more time off work I have given up alcohol and sleep...yep totally sucks.

Getting there slowly, at this point dont even care what grade I get as long as I pass.

A Week To Breathe!!

Joe came home for the weekend, what a thrill, I dont realize how much I miss him until I see him and then I fill up a little bit. It was lovely to have him home, even if he brought a load of junk with him. You know your boy is home when you come downstairs on Saturday morning and there is a filthy kayak on your newly carpeted family room floor, bottles of soda and candy wrappers all over the place because the brothers had an all nighter playing nerf gun wars after the midnight movie. Did I really mind... no not really but dont tell them that.

Sunday afternoon Colin, Joe and the dog left for NH. I will go up on Tuesday with Elliot, he has to work Monday and could not get the day off and Colin still had some DIY to do that I prefer not to be around for so it all works. End result is I have a delicious day all to myself. Went for a run this morning, really humid even early and was in more pain than the other day, serves me right for not running for so long but it did feel really good, especially when I stopped!! Just catching up on all those jobs today that I never get to when I am working like a crazy woman. Done with my research class, grade pending, going to hit the book store to buy some trashy romance vacation novels, may bo tango dancing tonight (woo whooo!) and then off at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Spa in New Hampshire here I come!!

Loving This Summer

Its been a while, I know its been a while, many of you have probably given up looking at this blog, maybe even erased it from your bookmarks (heavens no!) Caught up in life, a job that is kicking my butt (but still loving it) grad school that I am totally sick of but committed to finishing at the top of my class, no time just had no time

Around May I think I realized I had a sad little life, no fun, it was like groundhog day, get up, go to work, come home, make dinner, go to bed. Weekends were more of the same except insert homework instead of work. Thats when I decided something had to change, when did I become 43 going on 80!! So on the advice of a good friend I joined her at ballroom dancing classes, soon I was adding a second class to my week and then....I started running again! (its been a while, me and the dog are still in great pain!) The sense of well being has returned some, only 3 classes left in grad school I can see the light...really I can see the light.

Now on vacation for 10 days (aaaaahhhhh I can breathe) so will try and blog more about my trips to Portland in June and Ottowa in July (both for work) my lovely boys, both of whom are home right now, and my plans for a bright future.

Spring is Finally Here!

A very busy few weeks which have involved several weekends away which is quite unlike me and I am feeling a little burned out as a result. No time for that necessary regeneration at the weekend. At the beginning of April I attended an oncology meeting in DC, it happened to be the same weekend at the Cherry Festivel and the same weekend that Colin was in DC for an orthopedic meeting - how fortuitous, confession to make, we both bagged the Saturday afternoon session of our respective meeting and went down the Tidal Basin to enjoy the cherry blossoms and then ended up in Georgetown for drinks and dinner.... I looooovve Georgetown, it reminds me of the homeland in some small way.

The following weekend we were invited by good friends Mike and Julia to spend time at their newly acquired villa on the Rotunda in Florida. Normally would have said no but have been so crazy lately a little R&R in the sunshine was too good of an oppourtunity to miss so off we went for 4 day. Gloriously sunny, still have the sunburn to prove it. And we saw plenty of wildlife whilst we were lazing by their pool, plenty of herons a family of otters and of course aligators ( keep your toes covered)

This weekend we are in New Hampshire painting the new house to make it student ready for the fall. Boy there is a lot of work to do, having done all this before as a newly wed I am not as nearly excited about house renovation as I once was. Of course as most projects once you get into it, its much worse than you thought, current crisis is need for a new roof, need for complete new rewire and a rather large leak in the upstairs bathroom. I think this will be a male bonding exercise for Colin and Joe, I will stick to the coffee run and providing food and hanging pictures when the job is done!!

Going to post pictures of the lovely Cherry Festivel.. Enjoy!!

I'm Going Back!!!

So, a couple of weeks ago I was asked to consider being a team leader with the medical team that is returning to the refugee camps in the Dominican Republic. My immediate answer in my head was "Yes Yes Yes" but I knew I had to ask some other significant people in my life before I could commit. My husband had the wisdom to know it was not so much a question as information - having handled a 2 week stint on his own already this is old ground, and this time it will just be him and Elliot at home, they are fine, they will eat drink and be merry its more my dog I'm worried about! Then I had to ask my boss, Mike, because last years trip really took me out for the best part of 3 weeks and that's alot to ask to do again just a year later, honestly if Mike had said no I would have shut the whole project down there and then because I am very very committed to my job, but Mike was very supportive (bless!) and so with great excitement, I met with Gerri, the Global Health Director for the Caribbean and fast becoming a close friend and we have started planning. My team will go Nov 1-14th, to date we have about 4 physicians, 3 nurses, still looking for an OT and PT and will maybe take along a nutritionist (badly needed). I feel in someways like I am going home to see family, to pick up with the resident medical team in Consuelos, Dr Judy, and Abel and others but more than that I am so privileged to administer in some small way relief and healing to those precious children in the camps, cant wait to get my hands on them again. From the first time I set foot in the camps (Bateyes as they are known in the DR) I felt I had become a nurse for this purpose, I have thought about all my experiences down there almost daily, look at my photos often and had a yearning to return. I am sooooo excited I am getting this huge opportunity. Only hope I cut it as a leader and take everyone down and back safe and sound.

In June, me and Gerri and another team member Karen are going for a 5 days trip to scope out some new projects, rekindle some old relationships and create a vision and strategy for our November trip. So the blog lives on, the purpose for which is was created still exists - I am more than happy.

One of the requirements from my husband and I reluctantly know he is right is I need more investigations from a cardiologist. After last years trip I ended up with persistent palpitations which my cardiologist thinks was from being persistently on the edge of dehydration for 2 weeks which screwed up my magnesium and potassium levels, however, 4 months later I have been unable to wean myself off the beta-blockers, so Colin, yes I will go and get a stress test and an echo done and talk to Dr Hylricht one more time!!!

My head is spinning with possibilities and scenarios, another fun and busy year in that strange world of Angie

PS Oh, almost forgot, Joe is home for Spring Break, 10 days of him, yeah - we did buy that house in Dover. And so the next 3 months will be a project of getting it student renter ready - what fun. Can I go to the Dominican now please!!!!

Still Snowing

I like snow, its white and fluffy and it makes me feel like we are having a winter, especially when I can watch it from inside the house sitting in front of a roaring fire. We have had several snow storms, I am done now. It makes getting around just a little bit harder, add to that the biting cold and I am definitely done now. Very pretty, very very pretty but I am done now.

Other things of note, finished the Financial Management Class, super super boring, but I did manage to squeek together a passable business plan and learn a little more about Excel. Now doing a nursing management and leadership class, this is going to be much more enjoyable, I already love the reading.

Joe came home last weekend, it was lovely lovely to see him, first order of business was a hair cut!! Then we just fed him all weekend, he went back to UNH looking just a little bit plumper and cuter!! It looks like we have just about bought a house in New Hampshire a duplex with 3 bedrooms on either side. So the order of business this spring and summer will be to get it ready for student renters - I say bring it on!

Nothing really exciting is happening in my life right now - sorry , I could make stuff up but it would not be very believable, lots of work, studying and taking care of the family......not such a bad life!!!

Valentines and More!

So, I have been chatised by my beautiful and smart goddaughter, Sarah, for not blogging in so long. As I explained to her January and February were just busy and boring and did not warrant being written about. I have decided I feel very blah about the end of winter. It has been soooo cold here and we have had several snow storms ( and I do love the snow) but it just makes it harder to commute to work and all round do anything! But... I must stop moaning my life is blessed in many ways. My dog adores the snow and the cold and to see him play in the snow is a real treat. All 3 kids get a huge high when an impending snow storm is arriving because it means great snowboarding and they have not been disappointed. Being stuck inside so much has given me chance to catch up with that huge pile of reading by my bed and try out some new recipes in the kitchen. I have also used the time to catch up on some movies I "needed" to watch, Mama Mia was a tonic, The Reader was deep and thought provoking and Slumdog Millionaire, well that just deserves to win everything at the Oscars next week.

Of course grad school continues, and maybe it is part of the reason for the lack of blogging, now why the heck do I need to take a course in Financial Resource Management, but after all this is America and everything revolves around the almighty dollar. I can see the relevance now I am at the end of the class, but I struggled through it some, waiting for my grade in about a week. Next class in Nursing Leadership, I am already looking forward to that and it will be much more relevant to my job.

Things to look forward to
1. The weather getting better
2. Joe coming home for the weekend the end of February
3. Only 6 more classes to go in Grad School
4. A family I adore
5. A job I love it does not feel like work everyday
6. People that mean so much to me, they regularly read my blog (Sarah that one is for you!!)

Snow Snow Everywhere!!

It's snowing again, kinda wishing we were back in the Caribbean - that trip now feels like a lifetime ago. Early Friday morning we made our way up to New Hampshire to take Joe back to University. All 5 of us went for several reasons, its about to be Katies 18th Birthday and part of her gift is to go snow boarding on some incredible New Hampshire mountains, of course Joe and Elliot did not want to miss out on that. We are considering buying a house up here for Joe and friends to live in and for us to use (if not wrecked by students) as a vacation home. Colin has diligently been researching for weeks, had set up visits with a local realtor and so on Saturday we looked at 12 houses - phew I was exhausted. But it was fun, we looked at some really disgusting stuff and some really dreamy-take-me-now stuff. Joe and Colin will continue the search, the decision is really up to them, I will just be called in to clean and help furnish a new place but it is an exciting project for all of us. So, of course whilst stuck in New Hampshire we got caught by one of those aggressive New England snow storms. We are leaving today and hoping to make it back to Pennsylvania in one piece. Having lived in Wisconsin for several years we are pretty experienced bad weather drivers but you never know whatever other crazies are on the road.

Since coming back from our little New Years break we seemed to slip back into business and chaos a little too quickly. And then January is such a blah month dont you think, the extreme cold we have been experiencing in Philadelphia just seems to add to the everyday effort it takes to get through the day. Grad School is busy and intense as always, as is work. Life has that feeling of getting back to normal with everyone back at school and work. It was really lovely having Joe home for a few weeks but it was very obvious he wanted to needed to go back to University so we are hoping he has another great semester, we are sure it will be a good mix of acdemics, social and snowboarding - not sure if it will be in that order but hey his priorities may be different than ours!!!

A Wonderful New Year and Lots of Sunshine

There is something very therapeutic about leaving the sub zero temperatures of winter and escaping to the sunshine. Even though our trip was only 4 days long I feel like we were away for 2 weeks. We landed in Miami and immediately spent the afternoon by the pool soaking up some rays. We mooched around South Beach in the evening, now that place is crazy and very colorful! The next day we boarded the boat and off we went to paradise. Its amazing how quickly both of us left the stresses of work, family, school behind as we sailed out of Miami Port. Highlights were the day we spent at the Atlantis Resort, that place is huge and beautiful and we only did a fraction of it. It is also the place where I discovered how delicious a mojito at lunchtime can be,only problem was I then fell fast alseep in the sun and I am now rather pink!! The accomodation on the boat was quiet and restful, the food fabulous and Colin and I just enjoyed each others company and a few days away from all the stressors of life. It was abit of a risk leaving 3 teenagers at home alone, I did worry about it a little. However, on returning home, not only were all 3 children alive but my dog was happy and the house was spotless - if anything else happened I just dont want to know about it!!! Back now to the wind, rain, ice, cold, laundry, groceries and oh yeah that four letter word - work ---- yuck!!!