My hopes and dreams for the future (2014 and beyond)

Hi there, Everyone!

I have a real yen to travel internationally.  So much so, in fact, that I would like to do another trip, perhaps to the Dominican Republic, either with Dave and / or Brent and James.  We had such fun in Jamaica in mid-December that I didn't want to come home yet.  If I had known beforehand that there was going to be a massive power outage that would last 5 days in our neighbourhood and town, I would've stayed in Jamaica!  It was so warm, even in the evenings, I did not think about snow and ice or being cold and chilled for one millisecond!  I am definitely making time for myself in a warmer climate in the not-so-distant future.  That's what every person who's about to retire should be doing.  You can live relatively cheaply down south.  They have what would be called "Bed-and-Breakfast" places somewhere down there that you can stay at for a longer term than you would want to (or be able to afford to) stay at a hotel.  This fact makes it eminently possible to travel and stay at places you like for an extended period of time - maybe a month or so?  I think the web site is labeled "Air B and B".  I don't know the exact web site address, but I'll be sure to look into it.  Suffice it to say, if you see a travel blog post with my name on it, you'll know for sure that I went on another trip to a southern, warm destination.  If I got to retire right now with a full pension and discovered that I would not be penalized for retiring early, I would be thinking about, and planning, another trip down south, as we speak.  And, it goes without saying, I will be continuing to write creatively and publish books into the future.  Just check out:  Amazon, Indigo, Barnes and Noble and, of course, Authorhouse!  Thanks out there if you are reading my blog(s) and I hope you're enjoying reading them as much as I enjoy writing them!

Post-vacation – Sunday January 5, 2014:

Well, after the ice storm was over and had wreaked absolute havoc to the homes of people who live all over the GTA and Durham Region, the insurance companies (at least mine) came through with some money to replace all our lost frozen and refrigerated food.  There was no deductible applied and the money is going to be enough to make up for our food losses.  Unfortunately, the insurance company would not cover hotel bills for the nights we had to spend outside of our home because it was too cold to live there – that sucks.  And, the cost of dumping the wasted food into the dump was not covered either.  However, since I was expecting some kind of a deductible, the fact that there is none is a good thing – I can live with that.  We actually had our “Christmas dinner” of turkey and all the accessories on New Year’s Day instead.

Meanwhile, I am still not welcome at Dave’s daughter’s in-laws living in Whitby, but I decided that if I let them get under my skin, it would defeat my purpose.  So, I wasn’t given the opportunity to see Dave’s daughter and her two little girls during this Christmas break.  But, after all, I am my own person; I tell the truth whenever possible and, in this case, I just told the truth the way I see it.  Anyone else not related to them would have done the same.  That doesn’t make me a bad person, just an honest one who cannot stand bulls*t or people who spout it and, even more, believe their own bullsh*t!

Tomorrow, on Monday January 6, I am returning to school and I’m looking forward to it.  Only problem is – I have developed a cold recently and have been battling fatigue and plugged sinuses for a few days now.  However, I am devoted to my students and will be there for them till the end of the semester and the end of the year, ultimately.  That’s what good teachers do and I aim to be the best at this profession. 

As far as my newly published book is concerned, I have ordered 100 new soft cover books that I intend to use for promotion purposes.  My whole order includes a second (free) book marketing kit, 20 free soft cover copies and 5 free hard cover copies; the free copies were part of my original publishing package.  These free copies will go to family and friends only.  The rest of these books will be sold or given as gifts (through redeemed gift certificates I will give out only to certain people).  Finally, later in January or early February, I will be initiating a publicity campaign to promote my book in both Canada and the United States.  This campaign via the media will help expose my book to millions of people that I would never be able to reach on my own.  However, I am also in the process of sending out a newsletter to the book retailers in the main cities of Canada and five of the largest cities in the United States.  Perhaps, I will also be able to do some book signings locally and further afield.  Hopefully, something good (like getting some really good book reviews and winning some writing contests) will help people to decide to buy my book this time making me a successful, award-winning author.  Only time will tell.

Post-vacation - Friday December 27, 2013:

Today, we’ll be checking out of the Comfort Inn.  It’s been fairly comfortable staying here, except when we had a day-long power outage yesterday until about dinnertime.  However, the power came back on and I am settling in for the evening, alone for the night.  Thank God, Dave went home early because he was starting to get on my nerves, big time!  You can always spend too much time with your roommate…..maybe that’s why I still want to work for a living.  Otherwise, we would drive each other nuts in no time at all!

I talked to my long-time girlfriend, Gerry Lenaghan, who lives in Brampton, Ontario.  She has also been affected by this massive power outage, but she seems to be coping with it alright.  Yesterday, I talked to my also-long-time girlfriend, Dale McDonough, who lives in Sudbury, Ontario.  She, unlike us, was not affected by lack of power and heat.  Good for her because Sudbury is definitely not a place where you’d want to be without utilities like power and heat!

There are some great TV movies playing at this time of year on the “W” channel, mostly to do with love themes and families.  This is the kind of stuff I love to see, hear and write about because I’m still a romantic at heart and would like to believe in “forever”.  Thank God though, Dave is not here to argue with me today anymore about god-knows-what.  He can be a little hard to take sometimes, even at Christmas; despite that, I do care about him.  His daughter, who just moved to Whitby, close to us, lives with her in-laws (Yuk!) who have decided that I am much too opinionated for them because of something I said about a certain member of their family.  What I said about him is the absolute truth, but that doesn’t seem to matter to them.  According to them, he is not the kind of person I said he was.  What I really meant is that he is not what I would consider a “forever” type of guy.  In other words, he’s the kind of guy who’s here for a good time, not a long time.  However, I am not one to keep quiet whenever I have an opinion about anyone or anything, so when someone tells me I am not welcome at their home because of a particular opinion I expressed, I feel that I do not want to have anything to do with those people.  This does not, by the way, include Dave’s daughter or her two little girls, who are little darlings that love me as much as I love them.  Somehow, I’m just going to have to develop a thicker skin from now on.  Those morons’ opinions of me don’t ultimately make any difference to me.  I intend that my narrative here will make it into my author blog one day in the not-so-distant future, but for now, I’ll just have to keep my thoughts to myself.  When the time is right, I will post this entry, along with my other thoughts about this particular December and people everywhere will just have to accept that I will always have my own opinions and that I live to write about them!

Stay tuned for my next great adventure - probably in Canada during 2014 - but, there will be more international adventures too!

Day 7 - Saturday December 21, 2013:

First thing today, I must book a courtesy suite for us four before our flight leaves.  This could be one of our existing suites or another room.  The reason is that we would normally have to check out of the hotel by 11:00 am, but the bus doesn’t leave for the airport from the hotel until I guess about 5:15 or 5:30 pm and we’ll need a room / suite to stay in till that time.  It’ll probably cost us about $100US.  We need to be at the airport in time to check in our baggage, go through customs, and maybe get something to eat or drink and wait to board the plane.  In order to board the plane, we must have boarding passes.  We can’t print them out here at the hotel, so we will have to pick them up at the airport instead.

Today, we are more than happy to be leaving!  At least, Brent, James and Dave are…..I love Jamaica though and I will be returning back here sometime!  We could not book a courtesy suite or room for today at all because the hotel was fully booked.  So, we had to check out of our two suites by 11:00 am and stow our baggage down by the front desk in the main lobby.  We were still allowed to use the nearby change rooms, locker facilities, showers and washrooms, but there was no longer any hotel room/suite for us.  At about 5:00 pm, we were picked up (after showering and changing) by our bus so that we could go to the airport and get on our WestJet flight home. 

The flight home was pretty uneventful, but by the time we got back to Toronto almost 4 hours later, we discovered that a horrific ice storm was brewing in the GTA and Durham Region where we live.  Kyle had agreed to pick us up after we’d gone through customs and picked up our baggage.  He was there waiting for us when we got outside Terminal 3 at around 1:00 am.  The drive home was tricky because it was pretty icy by this time.  Then, about an hour after Dave and I got home – we got home just after 2:00 am or so – the power went out all over the GTA and Durham Region and we did not have any idea when it would come back on!  The same thing happened to Brent and James when they got to their home in Oshawa shortly after us.  This has been our collective nightmare since very early on the morning of December 22^nd.

Post-vacation - Sunday December 22, 2013:

Two nights after landing in Toronto, we still did not have power or heat and it was getting too cold to stay home any longer.  Finally, on Monday December 23^rd, we booked ourselves into a local hotel, the Comfort Inn in Oshawa.  Kyle and Cathy took his two girls, Kaylee and Jaime, up to see their grandmother, Trudy, in Innisfil, Ontario for Christmas and Boxing Day.  Meanwhile, Dave and I had to stay in the Comfort Inn and keep booking more nights as we got news updates from the CP24 TV channel on the power outage situation.  For some unknown reason, our hotel was not affected by a power outage until Thursday December 26^th.  This is, by far, the longest and most severe power outage I have ever experienced! 

The last time I experienced a power outage (blackout) in the GTA was in 2004 or 2005 when I lived in East Scarborough and that time, it lasted about 22 hours.  But, that time was also different because it happened in the summer….we weren’t living in sub-zero temperatures at home then!  Our frozen food at that time had almost started to thaw, but thankfully, the power came back on just before there was any irreversible loss. This time, however, we’ve lost all of our frozen food because you cannot re-freeze it once it starts thawing right out.  So now, it’s all garbage and we’ll have to start all over again shopping for meat and frozen vegetables, etc. 

I really do hope that my home insurance will cover our frozen food losses and our hotel bills for this week.  I am still here, sleeping at the Comfort Inn for the 4^th night this week!  Dave went back to our place tonight (Thursday) to check out the situation for the 2^nd time today and he decided to stay overnight because the power has finally come back on at home.  It’s still cold there, but he thinks he can handle it.  It’s costing me a lot more this month because we’ve had to eat out much more often and Christmas time is expensive and the hotel bills are definitely piling up.  We’ve all been told by CP24 that the power outages should be fixed soon and hopefully, that fact is now coming true!  It’s about f**king time!

Today, we finally did our laundry from our Jamaica trip and from the last week.  That, at least, is a relief. 

Tonight, I am ordering in a pizza for myself for dinner.  It’s pizza for the second time this week.  It’s certainly been weird this week because, for Christmas dinner on Christmas Day, we had dinner at Boston Pizza and I’d ordered a Hawaiian pizza then.  Oh well, it’s a strange world, isn’t it?

Day 6 - Thursday December 19, 2013:

I had booked a second excursion for today.  It was to leave the hotel by 9:30 am, but didn’t end up leaving till close to 10.  This one is called the “Martha Brae River Rafting” adventure.  We left the hotel and proceeded through the city of Montego Bay in a van, up through the mountain communities, and eventually, out of town.  I knew we were going a fair way since the Martha Brae River is really a mountain stream that starts high up in the mountains and empties out into the Caribbean Sea.  I’d guess it was a 50 – 60 km trip one-way.  We were also taken on a mini-tour of a nearby Jamaican herb garden because Jamaicans are very health-conscious people.  After our river raft tour, we were scheduled to go on a tour of the nearby small city of Falmouth, a Jamaican city of about 10,000 or so.  It’s a port designed for the very largest cruise ships that sail on the Caribbean that can’t dock anywhere else in Jamaica.  And, we got to see how the native Jamaicans live, something we wouldn’t have seen in the resort.

The river raft tour was something else.  I’ve never been on a bamboo raft, guided by a native Jamaican man, all by myself.  Other people on other rafts at the same time, were also going down this long, but narrow fresh water river, spaced apart.  At some point, two or three rafts all came together and I thought there would be a collision.  Not so.  These river guides sure know what they’re doing!  Except for certain high-water months, they are doing this a majority of the year, so they are very good at it.  It turned out to be a very relaxing and comfortable time.  I had never done anything like this before in my life; from now on, when I think of river rafting, I will always remember my wonderful experience on the Martha Brae River.

After the river raft tour and our subsequent tour of the city of Falmouth, we headed back to Montego Bay (I thought).  Instead, we stopped at a rest stop that consisted of an informal restaurant-bar and a gift shop.  We were told to have lunch there and go shopping if we wanted to and our driver-tour guide would come back for us.  He had to go back to pick up some other people from the “Jamaican Swamp Safari” excursion.  Thus, there were four of us stranded together – a really nice middle-aged Swedish mother and her teenaged daughter and adult son.  They were visiting Jamaica from Stockholm, Sweden.  I had to actually borrow money from the mother (Cecilia) so that I could eat lunch with them because I had not brought enough money with me for this purpose.  I had not anticipated lunch on this trip – so much for budgeting for an excursion.  I did buy a nifty multi-coloured muscle shirt for Brent, a rather flashy T-shirt for James and a cute little blue bead necklace for myself.  But, after I had tipped my raft guide on the river tour, I had no money left over.  The vendors you meet in Jamaica usually deal with cash – US dollars mostly and, of course, Jamaican dollars.  The ratio of Jamaican dollars to US dollars is about 10 to one (10 Jamaican dollars for every US dollar).  So, you can always spend US dollars there and Jamaican dollars, as well, but when you leave this country, only US dollars can still be used.

By the time we arrived back in Montego Bay at the resort, it was already 4:00 pm.  I’d missed my departure time for the Dreamer Catamaran Cruise for the second time in a row!  So, I was really hoping I could rebook it again, this time for the following morning, at about 9:30 am.  This time, I could not miss it.  This tour was really nice.  The driver took a bunch of us from our hotel – an American family and me – to the launch point of the four catamarans.  Ours was called “Day Dreamer” and it was white and yellow and big enough to hold up to 30 people.  There were only about 15 of us altogether on this trip, so we knew there’d be lots of room.  The tour included sailing along the coastline of Montego Bay, stopping at a designated place to do some snorkelling (which I’ve never done before) and then stopping at the seaside town of Margaritaville for a light lunch and/or a drink.  You could also slide down this very steep waterslide if you had the nerve.  It emptied you into the sea, but I chose not to participate.  The others I was with told me that, when they tried it, it shot them out like a cannon into the sea and was very hair-raising for that reason.  This tour took a total of about four hours, from 9:30 till about 1:30.  I think it might’ve gone a bit overtime.  I liked this particular excursion a lot since I’ve never been on a catamaran.  It’s a very large sailboat and sometimes it takes a while to get your “sea-legs” on a choppy sea – it did for me today.  The Caribbean Sea is very clean and clear and there are some interesting looking fish in it and, of course, the coral reefs.  I would love to do some more snorkelling the next time I visit Jamaica!

Last, but not least, I took a full body massage at about 3:00 pm for forty-five minutes at the Health Spa.  Donna did my massage.  She used hot oil and spread it over my body, first on my back and legs then I flipped over and she did the front of my body.  It was a very soothing and relaxing experience – something I definitely should do more of in the future.  I need to start looking after my health better since I am getting older and the only way to slow down the aging process is to take better care of yourself – body, mind and soul.  Being in Jamaica for this week has been a truly rejuvenating and adventurous time for me!

We will have to book our seats on the return flight home.  We can only do this 24 hours in advance of the flight, which leaves at 8:15 pm tomorrow night.  So, Dave and Brent are going to book our seats in the Internet café off the main lobby tonight.

Day 5 - Wednesday December 18, 2013:

We played Yahtzee (a game that uses 5 dice in the main lobby last night before retiring for the night.  As usual, James won the game handily, by rolling two Yahtzees (100 points each) and made no apologies whatsoever for his need and desire to win games against the rest of us.

I hope my kids at school are doing well with my supply teacher this week.  They’re only going to be at school one more day after today before Christmas break and then we are all off until January 6, 2014!  Hurray!  I do not have to go back to work right away after we get back from Jamaica early Sunday morning (December 22^nd). 

As it turns out, the weather is again spectacularly sunny and hot!  I booked my first external excursion called “Dreamer – Catamaran Cruises, Montego Bay, Jamaica”.  It’s known as “The Ultimate Sailing Experience”.  Since I’ve never been on a catamaran, but love sailing, I am about to discover what sailing on the Caribbean Sea is like.  Here’s what the brochure says about the evening sail:  “Champagne Sunset Sail – Sunsets are breath-taking in Montego Bay.  Here…the sun goes down amidst white sand beaches, romantic music & gentle Caribbean waters.  Sail along Montego Bay’s beautiful coastline on board your Dreamer Catamaran (there are 4 different ones) for a two hour cruise, drinking in our renowned Jamaican sunset.  This is an unforgettable experience not to be missed.  Sunset Cruise includes Open Jamaican Bar with Champagne Mimosas and light Hors d’Oeuvres.”

However, I decided to go on the Dreamer Catamaran during the mid-to-late afternoon instead, which starts at 2:30 and ends at the resort by 6:00 pm.  It involves snorkeling (they provide the equipment if you want to go).  The afternoon session is known as the three hour “Sail and Snorkel” and is offered Monday through Saturday 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm.  I suppose they just tell you to get ready to depart by 2:30 pm for the 3:00 sail time so you won’t miss the shuttle bus taking you to the dock.  I am really, really looking forward to this adventure because that’s just one more thing vacations are for!  The brochure describes this adventure as:  “Sail along the coastline aboard one of Montego Bay’s premier Sailing Catamarans – Day Dreamer, Tropical Dreamer, Island Dreamer or the new Sun Dreamer - designed for an ultimate sailing experience!  Open Jamaican Bar included for all scheduled cruises.”  You’re supposed to wear your bathing suit and bring a towel and sunscreen.  I am definitely wearing my swim suit and bringing my hat, T-shirt and a towel with me.  If this is not going to be an absolutely terrific adventure, then I haven’t planned my vacation here in Jamaica very well!

As it turned out, I missed the Dreamer Catamaran Cruise today because of some screw up that I couldn’t control.  The bus for the excursion somehow left without me and couldn’t (or wouldn’t) come back to get me.  So, I rebooked this excursion for tomorrow afternoon.  Hopefully, I would make it this time.

This is a good day to plan external excursions because the cruise ships stop here every Wednesday and the passengers have free access to any resort.  That means a lot of extra people will be here today at the swimming pools and waterpark and other activities at the resort.  Brent and James are also planning a couple of external excursions for themselves.  One of them is:  “Cool Runnings:  Dunn’s River Fun Cruise”.  This is what is says in the brochure about this adventure:  “Jamaica’s tropical beauty and exciting watersports fun are highlights of your ‘Cool Runnings’ adventure.  Board our super catamaran and cruise to Crystal Cove for a swim and snorkel stop.  Equipment and instruction included.  Then, sit back and enjoy the specular scenery as we sail to famous Dunn’s River Falls.  After your guided climb up the falls, the real fun begins.  The hot dance music will have you rocking as our staff shows off the latest soca and reggae moves.  This is a tour you won’t forget.  Beverages, Red Stripe Beer and Rum Drinks served after Dunn’s River.”  Things to bring:  Swim Suit, Towel, Sunscreen, Money (for tips and cool stuff).

Day 4 - Tuesday December 17, 2013:

Today, we all got up late (10:45 am?) and missed the buffet breakfast altogether!  But, I remembered that there was a continental breakfast from about 10:30 to 11:30 am and we were able to just make it to that.  Brent had gone out the previous evening and I spent the night with James so that he wouldn’t be alone.  That arrangement has been working really well for us.  Dave, meanwhile, would have his king bed in our suite all to himself, a fact he did not argue with anyone about. 

After our continental breakfast, we decided to use one of the other numerous swimming pools around the resort.  It was sunny again, as usual, but we got some regular lawn chairs and loungers under an umbrella.  We still have to pay close attention to the intensity of the sun, but it was okay today.  We did not overdo our sun exposure.

I had made another appointment at the Health Spa, this time for a pedicure.  Pedicures are nothing new to me, but I had not been planning to have one here in Jamaica.  However, I decided that, due to being on vacation here, I needed to pamper myself and not think about doing it when I get home to Canada.  Again, it was Donna who did my pedicure and she did such a great job that I tipped her $10US again.  I also made a third appointment for a full body massage.  This entails having a sauna if you wish, and then having a full body massage, front and back, by a professional female masseur, with the use of deep body hot oil moisturizer, scented candles and soothing music.  It felt so good yesterday, I’m going for another massage on Thursday this week!

We’re going to La Bella Vita later tonight, the Italian-cuisine restaurant that we made a reservation at yesterday.  Our seating time is 8:00 pm, which is a lot later than we are used to having dinner, but it was the only time that was available to us.  To attend this restaurant, we have to sort of dress up.  Men have to be dressed in trousers or dressy shorts and a shirt with sleeves.  Women should be in a dress or a skirt and blouse.  Proper shoes are required.  While the dress code is not exactly formal, we must be dressed like we are going to a nice restaurant, not a fast food place.  I’m told the food is very decent.  We all like Italian food (pasta, bread, salad, etc.) so it should be fine – we’ll find out later on.

Brent doesn’t know yet whether he’s going out or not after dinner is over.  He said the last two nights, he just spent his evenings at one of the bars downstairs at the resort.  The bars are open until 2:00 am, but you can drink as much as you want – the booze doesn’t cost anything extra.  He came back by 4:00 am the first night and by, I think, about two-ish, the second time.  I didn’t care; I was watching TV while James slept, and when I was tired, I went to sleep too.  But, Brent had to crash on the living room couch, which was okay except for the fact that there were no blankets or sheets for it and he forgot to ask the maids for some extra ones.  However, I think he was too drunk or too tired to care by that time.