Yarnjeannie's Crochet Cache

We had a great time in the Florida Keys. We stayed at Ocean Pointe Suites (rented a condo). It's a lovely area and the weather was perfect - high 70s to mid 80s. I spent a lot of time at the pool. Wayne finished his boat diving certification, logged his 40th dive during the trip (he's now at 43), did his first wreck dive, his first nitrox dive and his deepest dive to date - 107 feet. He had a great time and I'm so proud of him. I almost have him talked into a tattoo, I think! To commemorate his accomplishments. He got a lot of great underwater photos. Here's a picture of a moray eel. It's back to work for me, and apparently I've got a very busy day in front of me.

Just one more work day, and I'll be off for 5 days to accompany Wayne on a trip to the Florida Keys. He's working on his divemaster certification class, and I'll go along. He is so into scuba right now, having the time of his life. I'm happy he's found this sport. (Maybe because I'll get to travel to tropical locations more often - who knows?) I'm looking forward to the sunshine, the warmth, and the relaxation. I have a couple more rosaries finished for Barb's church. And I got new pattern books in the mail today! I'll have to look for some grange fair projects. There is a baby afghan I have plans to try - it's called "Guardian Angel", I think. Very cool design with loop stitches.

Good news! I heard from the lady at the dog adoption agency. She doesn't have a problem with Brutus staying here with us. What a relief! I was a little worried about that. She said that it may just be a matter of changing the contact info on the adoption contract to our names and address. I'm more than happy to give this sweet dog a forever home. He was a good friend to my dad.

I set aside the rosaries. I had a kids' hat or two in the works and decided to finish those. I have been jumping from one project to another for weeks now - not able to keep my mind on any one thing long enough to finish. Anyway, the hats turned out cute. I followed a pattern in a book, but free-lanced with the leaves. The book had a pattern for the leaves, but it was a little wonky to me. So I made my own. I like how they turned out. It's early in the morning as I write this. It's been a long night, I've been unable to sleep, and when I did nod off, I'd have the weirdest dreams. Glad someone was able to sleep. The beagle is curled up on the couch next to me snoring like a buzzsaw. God bless his little poochie heart!

It's been a difficult week. Back to work and the real world. It stinks. I'm trying to get motivated. I want to crochet, but I can't make myself do it. Too many things running through my head right now. I'm waiting for a call back from the people we got Brutus, my dad's dog, from. I'm so afraid that, now that my dad is gone, they will want to take Brutus back. I promised my dad that we'd keep him. He's such a wonderful dog and was my dad's best friend. His eyes would well up with tears when he told us how much the dog meant to him. I couldn't give him back, my heart would break again. He is adapting so well here - he's finding his comfort zone here, even though he does miss my dad - you can tell. I don't want to lose the dog, too. My mind keeps going back over those days in the hospital when my dad said goodbye to me. He knew he wasn't coming out, and I told him to stop thinking that way. We grasped at the straws the doct...

We decided that it might be a good idea to take a tour in San Juan instead of spending 8 hours in the airport. So the tour we chose was the 4.5 hour tour of the El Yunque rainforest. If you decide on this tour and Frank is your tour guide, for God's sake GET OFF THE BUS! The tour was 6 hours and like watching paint dry. Poor Frank tried hard, but he rambled on and on and on. And on... and on... The trip home was uneventful, the dogs greeted us like we'd been gone 100 years and we've got a ton of unpacking to do.

A quiet day spent on the ship - we tried to figure out which islands we were passing by, spent time by the solarium pool, just lazed about and rested. A couple of times I found myself in tears, realizing that we'd be returning and some tough times lay ahead of my brothers, sisters and me. It will be time to go through Dad's house and take care of things there. I can't believe it all happened so quickly. He was living alone, driving here and there, talking to us on the phone, and 8 days later, he's gone. At our last dinner together, we all took photos of the other couples at the table. What wonderful companions they were. Mary and Alan from Canada - turns out they were in the very next stateroom! Bob and Ellie - they tried parasailing and driving mini-buggies on their excursions. Jim and Carol - celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary on board the ship! And friends Marcia and Debbie - I will always remember their kindness - inviting me to go on their excursio...

No tour for me in Barbados. I sent Wayne on his way to his scuba excursion, and I chose to spend a quiet morning on the ship. I really did not feel up to an excursion at this point. I took my crochet supplies to the solarium and crocheted some rosaries as I had planned, stopped in at the Windjammer for some ice cream at lunch time, and returned to the cabin to order room service lunch when Wayne returned. He had a nice trip, but he had to admit that St. Lucia was the best of his excursions. We did go out and do some shopping in the port. There really wasn't much to the port we were in. I think that I will book a tour next time we visit there.