Call It What You Want

New Kids On The Boat?!

New Kids On The Sea...
(perhaps?! I like that one better :)

Straight from nkotb.com: Photo by: Albert Ferreira/startraksphoto.com

In December, I got an email telling me to "Save The Date" and so I immediately put in a vacation request, not knowing what I was putting a request in for...and then I kid you not on January 14 (my half birthday, btw)...I got a follow-up email telling me that what I had suspected for the past month was in fact a reality...

...NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK CRUISE...
MAY 15-18, 2009

Holy cow! Seriously?! A cruise...with five guys I've known of for 20 years...and not only is this a once in a lifetime opportunity (unless somewhere they decide to do a second cruise)...but you'd actually get to meet them. Shut up!

I found it odd that the same day the email came out was the same day the cruise went on sale...at first I was torn because I wasn't crazy about traveling on a cruise alone and then with the pricing...well, did I really want to spend all that money? It didn't look like it would be selling fast as girls were posting comments on the site about not going. And, I had already decided that most of my tax return would go toward moving to Raleigh - whenever that happened...

So Wednesday night I had a long, long talk with my sister...and I thought she would think I was crazy for even considering this trip. So, I asked her: "If it were Rick Astley and you didn't have to worry about the money to pay for it and you didn't have to worry about your kids, would you go?" Her response, of course, was yes. She advised that I wouldn't want to live with regret and she knew me well enough that if I didn't do this, I would look back with regret...by the end of the conversation, I found myself saying "Raleigh will always be there and I'm willing to put it off for another year to do this." All the while I'm crunching numbers to see if I can really afford to do this...

At work Thursday, I went back to the cruise portion of their site to either say goodbye to a dream or hello to a reality. Holycow! 95% of the cruise was SOLD OUT! I had to make a decision fast. So I called Anne again and by the end of that conversation, I had clicked "Submit."

Yeah, so uhm...*giggles*... I uh, well am going on my first real vacation since age 11 (no lie...my last vacation was my last family vacation to Jamaica Christmas 1988 - family split up the next year) and where am I going on vacation? Well, it's strange because last year I decided I would go on my first real vacay like to Wilmington, NC or maybe back to NYC or well...it hadn't been decided yet. So, by now you've probably guessed "Sarah is going on a cruise to meet New Kids On The Block." That would be a big YEAH!!

After I clicked "Submit" all of the sudden I got a knot in my stomach and my legs felt like Jello. Oh my lord, did I really just click "Submit?" I had the confirmation email that told me I had...so now I gotta book a flight from Richmond to either Ft. Lauderdale or Miami...JetBlue has a direct flight from RIC to Ft. L but we're leaving from the Port of Miami and all the Miami flights from RIC involve connecting flights *thumbs down* The cruise is from Miami to the Bahamas to Miami. Guess I should research things to do in the Bahamas...seriously? 4 days, on a boat, in the ocean with Jon, Jordan, Joe, Donnie and Danny...aww yeah!

If you want you can go to www.nkotb.com/cruise to see what my trip'll be...all the opps to hang out with the guys...and all those silly screaming girls...d'oh! *smacks head* But it's a trip of a lifetime and even as I type - it still doesn't seem real that in 4 months...you know, at the concert in October: drove to DC - it didn't hit me; got to my seat - it didn't hit me; 1st -and- 2nd opening acts - still hadn't hit me; lights go down - getting there; and when the letters NKOTB spread across the jumboscreen (see photo at top) - it finally hit me that I was 31 years old and at a New Kids concert - silly, right? I'm guessing my cruise won't hit me until I'm walking up to the boat or actually talking to any of them...

Ironic how having that moment with Donnie at the concert, I commented on my blog that the only thing that could have made that night better was to have met them...I never would have thought that 3 months later, I'd be 4 months away from that statement becoming a reality.

You know...Jordan's birthday is during the trip...wonder if I should get him something?? :)

Small News

I'm working on a post, but in the mean time, I'm going to let it be known that I'm not exactly moving to Raleigh in 2009 - as far as I know anyway...and I'm totally okay with that.

More coming soon...

Christmas Miracle

It's known that my sister, Anne, and I were not exactly on speaking terms the second half of 2008 and with Christmas approaching, I was sure that 2008 would be my first Christmas not in attendance at her home...

My mom had been hoping, praying, etc. that we would all be together for the holidays and I was doubting it seriously.

I got a phone call from Anne a couple days before Christmas..."What's this crap I hear about you needing an invitation to my house for Christmas?" I pointed out that because we hadn't been talking I wasn't going to assume it was okay to just show up...well, we were on the phone for THREE AND A HALF HOURS and by the end of the call, I had my sister back. :) We talked again for 90 minutes Christmas Eve, saw her Christmas Day, Matthew spent the night one night the following week and Rebekah stayed with me New Year's Eve, so we were all together for Mom's Birthday (NYE) and again New Years Day...

I have talked to my sister everyday (well night) this year...it's usually only 5-10 minutes, but hey, I'm just glad to have my sister back. I missed her...

An Ideal Way To NOT Spend Christmas Eve

So, Christmas Eve I go to my mom's where I'll (against my will) be spending the evening with her dad, his girlfriend, Jane, and all of Jane's family (who I was meeting for the first time) ...at first I kept to myself watching Can't Buy Me Love on the telly and mingling when persons would pass through the room I was in...and then came gift opening time...then came 'social time'...and then came 'verbal attack on Sarah for being...31 and single' *smacks head*

Jane's niece, who is easily in her 40's with a pre-teen and a teen, questioned where my family was...and it was soon discovered that not only was Sarah husbandless, she was also boyfriendless...this somehow created some sort of target on my forehead, back, wherever...

When asked what I look for, well I don't have a grocery list...so I said something to the effect of "I'm not particular on hair or eye color...he'd have to be employed...preferably his own teeth*...and preferably a non-smoker."
(* me stating the obvious of being a total smartass)

I was advised to join an online dating service...uhm, that'd be a no...I have friends who have found success with it, but for me personally, it's not my thing...I was advised other things to which I'll spare you the reader, but trust me, I was getting irritated. I had commented on my desire to move to North Carolina and a few days later it hit me that moving was more important to me than a guy...which, right now is the time that I can be selfish, right?!

And so that I didn't seem like a complete loser for 'being 31 and single' to everyone in the room, I threw out there that I had been married briefly once before...and voila...that pretty much ended the conversation... hmm, probably should have stated that earlier in the conversation...

This isn't Photoshopped, I took it myself

Found this photo on a disc and just wanted to post it on my blog...

it was taken along one of the Skyline Drive trails

somewhere in VA last autumn

*note: double click in the photo and get an extreme close-up*

Original & Creative Gift

I don't think my friend, Sara Bunn, would mind, but I felt like sharing what I did for her birthday. In all honesty, this brainstorm began with a simple item - some soap known as Safeguard. I had seen it in passing, not even realizing it was still manufactured...and the idea just grew and developed from there. Sara was given seven gifts and a card that explained each gift. When she opened the gift bag, I had her remove each item prior to giving her the card to see if she and her family could figure out the 'puzzle.'

I wished the following for her for the next year.

A year full of:
Safety - a 6 pack of Safeguard
Joy - orange Joy dish detergent
Love - note cards with hearts all over them
Healing - Hello Kitty Band-Aids
Fruitful - 5 different flavors of Fruit Leather
Peace - a can of peas
(play on words obviously, but it was all I could think of)
Bonuses - orange TicTacs

Healing and Bonuses were not an original part of the present, but Sara had been in a car accident and was healing...the TicTacs were an impulse purchase that I decided to incorporate as 'Bonuses' although I guess 'Surprises' would have been more fitting. Sara's favorite color is orange, so I tried to incorporate as much orange as I could.

The neat thing about the gift is I received an email from Sara today where she shared she was having a 'peas-ful' week.

*giggles* I loved it!

Christmas Holiday Preparations...so far

Christmas cards are already in the mail :)
I only have 4 more gifts to purchase - 3 of which I already know what they are...it's just a matter of getting them. I enjoyed online purchasing this year...yay for the Internet!?
Only 2 gifts were purchased at the actual store
(because they couldn't be ordered online)
I'm looking forward to being off work from 5 p.m. Tuesday, 23 December until 8:30 a.m. Monday, 5 January. I don't even know what I'm going to do with all that down time.....