I'll sit out the blizzard of '11 at home

The weather in St. Louis took a turn for the worse -- well at least the forecast did.  My meeting was canceled and I made it back to Chicago just in time.  The weatherman is predicting up to 24" of blowing, drifting snow for in Chicago tomorrow, so I'll be out with the snow blower while I get some work done here at home.  Looks like it will clear up in time for our flight on Friday, none-too-soon.  As I drove North toward Chicago today, I saw several caravans of utility trucks headed South presumably to help out with the eventuality of power-outages caused by the ice they're expecting.

That's not me in the picture, just a stock blizzard picture I found with Google, but I thought it fit. 

Gettting there is gonna be fun!

Had to be in St. Louis this week to finish stuff up and attend a meeting on Wednesday.  There's a BIG snow storm coming on Tuesday and Wednesday and I'll have to drive back to Chicago through it.  This will be a test of my winter driving skills, I guess.  Once I make it home (if?), it will sure make getting away that much more worth it.  Five more days until I'm done with snow and cold for ten days.

Check the packing list

Found a pretty inclusive pre-cruise packing list on-line and we're going through it as we begin the final countdown -- just seven days until we head out.  I went through my summer clothes last weekend, then Sue found a couple more pairs of shorts for me, so I think I'm set for warm weather.  Been watching what I eat so I can fit into my Tux, and I've lost 10 lbs. since Thanksgiving -- yoo-hoo for me!  Next Thursday is final packing day and I don't want to spend the day shopping for all the stuff we missed; we both bought sunscreen and I'm pretty set for travel anyway, but I'm sure that we'd forget something important without this list.  Oh yeah, need to get batteries and a new charger for the camera.

Caribbean Princess Bridge Cam

This is a snip from the Caribbean Princess bridge-cam taken at 1130 CST today, as she sits alongside in St. Thomas.  This where Sue and I will be just two weeks from today!  Thinking back to the last time we were there, I can almost feel the sun warming me.  Haven't decided yet what we want to do in St. Thomas, but last time all we did was shop and we're not wasting our time doing that again!  Our neighbor Holly suggested we hop over to St. John -- may take her advice.

Superbowl Disappointment, but soon I'll be gone from the snow

 

Did someone fail to let Cutler know when the NFC playoff game started?  His knee better be broken in three places, or this will be the last year he plays in Chicago.  As someone said, "You can play hurt, but you can't play injured".  Ah well, we'll always have baseball.

Drove to St. Louis tonight through the snow; plows were out throwing salt so it was not as bad as it could have been.  In two long weeks I'll be far from snow and plows, and the only salt will be in the surf.  When we get back in mid-February, we can normally expect that the worst of our Chicago winter has past, so maybe I'll make it through another year.  Oh, we can expect snow and cold -- it's snowed as late as mid-April in Chicago -- but the sub-zero temps are generally gone by 1 March, and we can expect a few days above freezing so what snow does fall can melt.  'Til next time.

Getting close

I can't believe that in just two weeks we'll be getting on the plane at O'Hare and saying "so long" to this Midwest winter for a while.  It's -4F outside our house this morning, but it's currently 77F in San Juan (going up to 83 this afternoon).  Caribbean Princess is in Aruba right now and will return to San Juan over the weekend -- it will take two more trips around the Southern Caribbean, then be ready for us.  The Bears play this Sunday, so we'll know who will represent the NFC in the SuperBowl by early Sunday night.  Keep your fingers crossed and GO BEARS!

Happy Birthday to me

Today is my birthday -- not important which one, but it's North of 50.  Five years ago today I was enjoying the sun and warmth in Aruba, and thinking back to that makes me warm again.  But right now, I'm in St. Louis and they're expecting several inches of snow tonight.  Back in Chicago, we'd just take it in stride, but these St. Louis folks don't have the infrastructure (snowplows) to handle it.  I'm sure tomorrow will be fun :-(  NOT!  The picture in this Blog entry is the beach that Sue and I visited in Aruba five years ago; doesn't it look inviting?  We took a catamaran out to the sunken WWII ship off the Northwest coast, did some snorkeling, then went to this beach for lunch and sun.  Just two more weeks and we'll be back in the Caribbean warmth -- I really can't wait.  Can you tell?

 

I found some Boingo HotSpots in the Caribbean, so I'll be able to post to this blog  while we're on our cruise.  I've had a Boingo account for a couple of years, and I find that it's really convenient (and much cheaper) than searching for local HotSpots.  Maybe I'll create a list of Caribbean Boingo HotSpots and post it to my website so other travelers can see where they can connect.  Or maybe not ;-)

The Chicago Bears moved one step closer to being in SuperBowl XLV yesterday with a cruise (get it? "cruise"?  This is a cruise blog?) past the Seahags.  Next step: the Divisional match-up next Sunday between the Bears and Packers at Soldier Field.  These teams last met for a championship game back in 1941 -- one week after Pearl Harbor!  The winner will have divisional bragging rights for the next 50 years.  I only hope that I'm not eating crow this time next week, because the "experts" are picking the Pack.  Not me! I'm looking forward to seeing the Bears win from the Caribbean Princess pool on 6 February.

Looking forward to spending time with Sue

I'm away from home five days a week, and I get to see Sue for about 36 hours per week, getting home late Friday night and taking off again on Sunday afternoon.  She's with family and friends all week long, but I have "clients" and "associates" to keep me warm lol.  I am so looking forward to getting away and just being Jac n Sue for a while.  I'll be blogging from the cruise, but I promise -- no I commit -- to not checking office email or answering business calls from the time we step on the plane at O'Hare, until we get back.  They can get along without me!

Four weeks until we board

Four weeks from today we will board the Caribbean Princess and sit down by the pool for the SuperBowl party.  I learned on the Cruise Line Fans forum that I'll need to go directly to the sign-up area if I want any hope of getting on the ship tour.  Sue's been looking at the Movies Under The Stars and "The Sanctuary" movies on the Princess website and agrees that we need to be sure to take these in.  Oh well, she's got lunch ready (beef stew for a cold Chicago Sunday -- nom!) and then I need to get my Sunday nap.

The Countdown Begins

Four weeks from today we board the plane to San Juan to begin our 2011 Caribbean odyssey.  I contacted Patrick yesterday so he can be prepared to take us to O'Hare -- that's pretty early in the morning for him and he'll need time for it to sink in.  I've been making regular updates to our website and have gotten several good ideas from the Cruise Line Fans board, including how we can have the best chance to get on the list for the Ultimate Ship Tour and how the seating for Movies Under The Stars works (special thanks to forum members ziggysun and Cruise Princess!). 

SuperBowl Sunday

 

We sail from San Juan on SuperBowl Sunday.  I Tweeted this fact and Princess Tweeted back that we can expect a SuperBowl Party on board!!  Fun first day.

Got a TagReader?

If your iPhone or Andriod phone has a web TagReader, you can use this tag to get to our cruise web page! 

I joined the community forum of Cruise Line Fans

Today I joined Cruise Line Fans dot com -  a great site to hear from other cruisers.  Already getting more ideas about how to make our next cruise better.  The last time we sailed we were so focused on the Heidi and Brandon's wedding, that we missed some of the best parts of the cruise; not this time!  Sue's bringing her new Nook Color and her Kindle to better determine which is "best". 

Welcome

Jac and Sue are excited about our cruise next month.  I'll blog from the ship when ever we can get an internet connection.  We can't wait!