Well we're back from our cruise.

Our latest adventure was on board the Carnival Freedom and we visited Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Antigua, British Virgin Islands, and the Bahamas.

Unfortunately the trip got off to a bad start as I was getting over a cold and descending into Toronto and Ft. Lauderdale almost made my head explode. I spent the majority of our vacation not being able to hear out of one ear and as I type this I'm still having issues. We also almost missed our connection in Toronto. Chris was concerned that we only had an hour after landing to get to onto the other plane so she called Air Canada the week before and they assured us we'd have plenty of time. Well they were wrong. In fact if it wasn't for good 'ol crappy Canadian weather which delayed the incoming flight we wouldn't have made it.

The fun didn't end there. Because our flight was delayed we almost didn't make it to our first excursion which was a tour of the harbor on a paddle boat. The hotel also screwed up our shuttle and had to order us a taxi while they called the tour company to see if they could hold off leaving until we got there. The cabbie even ran several red lights as he tried to get us there in time. Chris & I joked that it was like we were in The Amazing Race. Thankfully we go there in time and saw lots of expensive houses, million dollar yachts, and some wildlife while we unwound. Afterwards we went to the beach to hang out for a few hours. On the day we were to leave Chris had arranged to pick everyone up in a stretched Hummer. The look on Chuck's face when he saw his ride was priceless. It was also neat watching the people on the street point and take pictures of us as we drove by.

Getting on the ship was painless as Chris & I had priority boarding due to our staying in a suite. Once onboard we grabbed a table and proceeded to down some squishy drinks while we waited for everyone else to show up. As we left port everyone hung out in Alpha & Nancy's cabin which had a huge deck and drank a bottle of Cristal that Alpha had brought. Yup we were living it up pretty good :)

San Juan wasn't that great as we didn't show up until after dark and only had a few hours there. We did a typical bus tour and saw both the old part and new part of the city. But because of the lack of sunlight a lot of the pictures didn't turn out very well. We thought about hanging out at Senior Frogs, but decided to turn in early instead.

St. Thomas was gorgeous. Simply a tropical island paradise. The morning saw us at Magens beach where we swam, snorkeled, and walked around. I would have liked to have stayed longer but it started to get very hot (34 degrees) and very crowded as more and more people from the six cruise ships that were docked there that day started pouring in.

The next day saw us in Antigua which I also thoroughly enjoyed. We spent the day on a pirate ship which took us out into the ocean for some snorkeling (or beach time for those who didn't snorkel). At first I had issues as the choppy water kept cutting out the air in my tube but after awhile I got the hang of things and was able to swim over a shipwreck and see the fishes peeking out from the skeleton like ribs of the sunken boat. On the way back we drank rum punch and listened to music.

From there we went to Tortola. This time I decided to stay on the ship while everyone else went ashore to go on their various excursions. I was feeling pretty down at being sick and the unfairness of it all and just needed to be alone for a bit. So I spent the day walking on the jogging track, updating my journal, and just relaxing. Kim Nott & Hailey went and swam with the dolphins, while Chuck & Tracy were scuba diving, and Alpha, Nancy, & Jayne checked out some cool looking rock formations.

Our last stop was in Nassau in the Bahamas. Our scheduled tour guy never showed up, or at least we couldn't find him, so we took a tour from one of the locals instead. Our driver's name was Kevin and while at first I was thinking it was going to be another crappy bus tour he turned out to be a really great guy and we all had a blast seeing the sites. We checked out some of the richer areas, a few forts, stopped to grab beers and sample rum cake, went through the poor part of town, and we ended the day at the Atlantis resort. That night a bunch of us went to the fancy restaurant and gorged ourselves on lobster and filet mignon.

Overall this was probably our least favorite cruise. While Chris & I tried to make the best of it, our being sick (she came down with a cold) definitely put a damper on things. However we did see some amazing sites and it was awesome seeing many of our friends experience cruising for the first time.

Some pictures can be found here.

Wow. Almost a month since my last update.

Screw it, I'll just get it out right away…..my last EKG came back showing that my heart is in a normal rhythm once again! After almost two and half years of feeling like shit, being afraid to go to sleep for fear of not waking up, not being able to walk up a flight of stairs without almost passing out etc. etc. I'm finally back to some semblance of normalcy.

Now we haven't popped the champagne just yet. Part of me still doesn't believe it and I'm going for a follow up test tomorrow. Assuming it also comes back good then I'll finally be able to relax. I'll also have to meet with the specialist and figure out where we go from here. I do know that I'll still have to be on Amiodarone for at least another year. But I'm hoping I'll be able to cut back on the dosage.

Although things have never looked better, getting here during the past few weeks hasn't been easy. When I had my test at the beginning of the year I was feeling good and taking a page from Chris, I had a positive outlook and was sure I was better. Well when I found out that wasn't the case I started to get down on myself. I couldn't believe it because I was so sure that I was fixed.

When I had this last test I wasn't feeling overly great that day and after I was done I asked the technician to see my chart. What I noticed was that the first two readings were all over the place and not normal. At that point I felt utterly defeated and got extremely depressed. I honestly didn't think I was ever going to get better. I had essentially given up and was just going through the motions to function.

So why did they say I was better when to my eyes my chart didn't reflect that? Well I'll find out when I see the expert, but the only thing I can think of is that it takes a few seconds before the machine gets calibrated and returns accurate results. So I shouldn't have looked at the chart to begin with as it would have saved me a lot of grief. But it's ridiculous that it takes over two weeks to hear back. Waiting for that long without knowing is excruciating which is why I demanded to see the chart.

So ya, things are finally looking up.

Chris & I went up to Edmonton this weekend. Part of it was so I could tell my parents the good news, and part of it was so we both could see our families before we go away on our cruise. We really had a good time and other than the crappy roads there (seriously brutal) it was a perfect trip.

The next few weeks will hopefully fly by and then we'll be relaxing and enjoying my new lease on life in the sunny Caribbean!

Thursday morning around 3am I woke up violently shaking because I was so cold. From there I bee lined it to the bathroom where I starting throwing up.

Yup, I had food poisoning.

So I spent all of Thursday throwing up and then come Friday it started coming out the other end. I honestly can't remember the last time I was this sick. Of course you try and figure out what you ate that caused it, but based on the varying times quoted for how long it takes for symptoms to appear it could have been anything. Even now I'm still having 'gut issues'. Sigh.

What makes things even worse is this is the weekend I'm supposed to take another 'overdose' of pills. My heart specialist finally got back to me, and as I suspected I'm still not in normal rhythm. But he's pretty sure I'm right on the edge...so he wants to attempt one more try.

Earlier in the week Chris & I went and looked at some showhomes in a neighboring community. I honestly don't know why I do this. I'll get the urge to go look at these homes and then I always come away depressed when I find out the cost. And I get frustrated when here I am with a great wage and I couldn't even begin to conceive of paying a million dollars for one of these homes (which is what we were quoted) and yet you go through the neighborhood and people who drive taxis are living there. I just don't get it.

I keep alternating between wanting the dream home and fixing up our current home and using the money saved to continue vacationing or possibly buying property on the coast. Either way we've committed to spending the next 2 years paying off our debts and then we'll go from there. It's funny because as I get older time definitely seems to fly by faster, but in other aspects things can seem like an eternity.

I can't remember how many days away our cruise is (Chris would know) but I'm starting to get excited. It'll be good to get away from my current stresses and just relax. The end of February can't come soon enough. I've also just started toying around with the idea of us going on a second cruise this year as well. Chris and I will have to sit down and figure things out.

Now excuse me as I have to run to the bathroom.

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping that 2010 is much better than 2009. Because honestly, 2009 was probably one of the worst years I've ever experienced. It can only get better from here on in right???

We went up to Edmonton to spend Christmas this year. During the morning of the 24th we went to my parents place where we visited, opened presents, and had a yummy dinner. Then Chris & I went with them to church. I haven't been to church in so long but I know how much it means to my parents so I figured what the heck. I hadn't been to that particular church since my high school graduation so it was interesting to go back there again. Thankfully I didn't burst into flames as I walked in.

That night we all went to Karen & Jim's place to celebrate Christmas eve. I had a lot of fun, although I don't think I'll be drinking any cheap wine for awhile. In the morning we opened presents and had yet another yummy meal for dinner.

I'm glad we flew instead of driving. Michael had to delay coming home at one point because the highway was closed due to a major accident. I think this might be the start of a tradition when we go up there.

New Years was pretty good this year. It started out with Michael, Jamie, Dennis, and myself going to the Oilers vs Flames game. Of course the Oilers lost but it was still fun to go to a game for a change. Afterwards we went back to Jamie's place where we rang in the new year. It was fairly tame this year and it sucked that Traci couldn't go due to Sophie being sick - but at least I didn't feel like crap the next day.

After trying the overdose of pills to get my heart into rhythm I was hoping to be able to say that the New Year has brought good news. Well I can't say that just yet. I was hoping to have had an EKG last week, but they hadn't faxed in the paperwork. So I'll be going for one tomorrow instead. Keep your fingers crossed.

Here's some pix of the festivities: