I'm Back!!

Where do I begin? I feel as though it has been so long since my last entry, and I know everyone out there is waiting anxiously to hear from me, so I might as well start back where I left off last -- with the wedding.

On the whole, it was a wonderful day. However, my life is not without its glitches. That's what makes me so fascinating.

So, like I said, the day started off perfectly. I got my nails done, hair done, make up done (I turned out to be very pretty); I got dressed, the groom got dressed, we were shuttled off, pictures went smoothly, right on schedule, and we were even done ten minutes before we were prepared to board the yacht reserved for our wedding. But wait, the boat wasn't where it was supposed to be docked. We figured, no big deal, we were early, it had to be on its way.

When the boat wasn't there at a quarter after the hour, I gave them a call from my cell. "Five minutes," they told me. Five minutes passed. Then ten, fifteen, twenty. Not good. My husband-to-be's cell phone rang. They told him they were experiencing "technical difficulty" and that they would have it fixed within minutes and they would pull up to the dock shortly. Minutes passed. Then some more minutes. We began to pace. I thoughtI might cry. The groom looked angry. Not good feelings for a wedding day. More minutes passed.

Finally, after an hour of waiting by the dock (with all of our guests waiting there as well), the managers of the boat arrived and informed us that the problems were not emminently fixable and they were asking us to walk half a mile to where the boat was docked and they could perform the ceremony and then have us on our way. "Fine," we said. Some walked the distance; others were shuttled there. We had the ceremony. I cried. We were married. The drinks poured freely, the dancing began, the boat didn't leave dock, dinner was served, the boat didn't leave dock, dancing continued, the boat never budged, we drank some more, we never left the dock. All night, we celebrated on our yacht docked in the river. We never cruised.

We expect a partial refund. It is under dispute.

But we decided to think about that crap later and we took off on our honeymoon and had a glorious time. We took a cruise through the western Caribbean, and we stopped in the Cayman Islands, Island Roatan in Honduras, Belize, and Mexico. A quick summary: Cayman Islands have beautiful beaches that are postcard quality. Sugar sand beaches, crystal blue water, clear, blue skies. I didn't want to get up off the beach -- gorgeous! Island Roatan is also beautiful but in a rougher sense. The people are obviously living in poverty, and those kids who were trying to sell me trinkets should have been in school, but it didn't stop me from bargaining with them over the price of the trinkets. Some shop owners I bargained with, some I didn't -- I figure they need the money more than I do. Belize was also beautiful, and very interesting as well; learned a lot about it. We went on a river rafting/hike through the rainforest excursion that was fucking fabulous! But I learned that flip-flops are not appropriate footwear for hiking through the jungle. Will re-think that decision next time I'm there. Was very hard gripping onto those fuckers while I crossed a fairly fast-moving river. And lastly, we stopped in Costa Maya Mexico, which was also awesome! We went on a tour of some Mayan ruins that are close to the Belizean border and that was amazing to see. I did some extra thinking on that excursion and smartly wore sneakers -- very approprate for climbing around the ruins.

The days we were at sea were also really fun, but mostly they were just relaxing. We laid out in the sun and baked ourselves good and leathery while we drank buckets of overly priced beer by the pool. It was perfect. I did manage to go running two days while at sea (the boat has a great gym and an outdoor track), but then I got so relaxed that I figured buffets were more enjoyable than running, so I said "fuck it" and I'll resume my schedule this week, even though the Christmas season is now upon us and running regularly won't be any easier for the next three or four weeks.

I have many more stories, but I have typed my little fingers to death, so I will bid you all "adieux," and I will post again tomorrow. I missed you all! Talk to you later!