Daddy's Girl

It's so hard for me to sit here and be at work knowing that my dad is here and staying at the house. My dad was supposed to start his 17 hour road trip to Texas from Ohio yesterday.

I had a bouquet of roses delivered to my office yesterday and peeking through the beautiful roses was my father's face!! That sneaky guy started driving on Tuesday and drove 16 hours straight! He arrived in Nac at 2 a.m. and stayed at the La Quinta that he and my mom stayed at one of the last times they visited together.

We discussed how his road trip would be 8-9 hours of driving and broken up into two days so he'd be well rested. Instead, after driving so long and seeing he only had 100 miles left to go he said he couldn't stop because it felt too near to stop.

He chose to be sneaky because for one he just couldn't wait one extra day to start his trip and two because he knew I'd be worried as soon as he hit the road. Of course, he knew too I would argue about him driving 16 hours straight.

Regardless, he is here and I'm so happy to see my dad. When I saw his face peering over those roses I was shocked and stupidly happy and his face just about broke into tears, which almost got me started too. We haven't see each other since my mom passed away in July 2011. We have been excited and anticipating for so long when he would do this trip to visit us. I think we have been just living our lives and trying to show strength to one another so we won't worry about each other with how big of an impact it has been to lose my mom and his wife.

I think it was hard to keep all those emotions bottled up when we saw each other. It was like a huge relief to be in each others company again, because we share the link to my mom. Maybe it takes away some of the sting and loneliness to be with each other.

I don't know if I'm quite explaining it all quite well enough, but it's just damn good to see my daddy.

some ship shots

This was the name of our Fun Ship.

This is the rear of the boat or the aft and up there behind the tail was a basketball court, volleyball playing area, and adult only jacuzzi and swimming pool.

This shot was taken looking up from the main floor of the ship or on the main level/deck. On every floor were several shops and bars. There was even a club for teenagers called Club O2. K was disappointed it wasn't really an oxygen bar.

A clearer view of one of the glass elevators.

The casino continued to be a very popular place on board.

This is the Metro Bar which was one of K and my favorite places to hang out. There was a lot of activity around this part of the ship.

This is the basketball and volleyball area that I had mentioned earlier. The netted area of course makes sure the balls stay where they're supposed to be. :)

This is where the main pool with water slide is and there was a jacuzzi here. And you better believe there is a bar on this level too. There was a bar or two or three on every deck.
A night time view of several levels of the ship. It felt like a never ending shopping mall at times. Overall K and I had a great time but it is a place where they sell! sell! sell! to you at every moment. If you are curious if a cruise is for you talk to me! I'll give you the details of the pros and cons of cruise life. :)

cruise time!

This has been a long eventful holiday. First, K and I spent Thanksgiving with family in Houston. The next day we celebrated my birthday with my in-laws and their friends. By the third day of our vacation K and I are standing in our ocean view state room on a Carnival Cruise Fun Ship!

The room wasn't huge but it definitely met all of our needs and the bed was sooooo comfortable! There was a lot of closet and drawer space. We even had our own safe to keep our things uh safe.

It's hard to see but this was in the middle of the ship where there were glass elevators that would take you to 9 levels or decks on the ship. There were 10 decks but the 10th one you had to walk to yourself since it was the very top level, which was outside where you could either run on the outdoor track or play mini-golf.

That first evening when we came back to our room we were greeted by a towel walrus, a turned down bed, chocolates, and tomorrow's itinerary of menus and ship events.

Holiday

-New driver's license? Check
-Passports? Check
-New luggage? Check
-Vacation hot spots? Check
-Furry crew sitters? Check

I am so ready for my Carnival cruise vacation. That's right suckas! It's about that time!