A funny thing happened on the way to the port…

I went to Florida a day before I was scheduled to leave for my cruise. I wanted to spend time with one of my favorite cousins Lisa plus, I didn’t want the hustle and bustle of rushing to the port (remember this statement) right after flying in.

Our first plane ride together

On Saturday night we had an awesome dinner at Grand Luxe Café by the Saw Grass Mall and of course I ordered my favorite, the Cedar Planked BBQ Salmon and I even got Lisa’s husband Anthony to try it and he definitely liked it.

Lisa & Anthony

To make our dinner even better my bestie Sheree and god daughter Kennedy were able to join us since they were on vacation in Fort Lauderdale too.

She sucks her thumb!

Finally it’s the morning of our cruise!! I did what I normally do first thing in the morning and checked my phone. I opened an email from Carnival that said if you have flexible travel plans arrive at the port between 2 and 3:30pm. That was perfect since Lisa and Anthony had to go to church that morning anyway. Once they got home, Nelson and Anthony went back on the street to run a few errands then we were off to Ft. Lauderdale port.

As we were driving to the port, Lisa kept pointing out that she has never left for a cruise from the Ft. Lauderdale port. She even ran down a list of people she has taken to meet the ship and not one of them left from there either. I heard her talking the whole time but I wasn’t really paying attention to what she was saying. I was too excited, flirting, and playing googly eyes with Nelson after not seeing him for a while. Not once did I think to check the paperwork in my purse.

We pulled up to port security and the officer asked what ship we were here for. I piped up from the back seat, “Carnival Valor”. He replied, “Carnival Freedom”. Without batting an eye, I repeated,”No Carnival Valor”. I was getting annoyed at this point and basically gave the officer the check your paperwork look when I should have been checking mine. After the officer reviewed his clipboard he confirmed that the Carnival Valor was NOT leaving from Ft. Lauderdale. I finally checked my green folder and I was suppose to be at the Port of Miami!

At this point it’s after 3:10 and I’m in a total panic. I call the emergency Carnival hotline and they said the latest I could get to port and still make it on is 3:45 but here’s the kicker… the port of Miami is 40-45 mins away. I’m freaking out and almost burst in to tears at the thought of ruining Nelson’s vacation not to mention how embarrassed I am. Thank God Lisa married Anthony who must have been a Nascar driver in his former life because he got us there safely and with time to spare. Nelson thought getting there late was the best thing ever since there were no lines and getting through was a cinch. I beg to differ… I never want that type of stress and worry again.

After getting over the shock and fear of almost messing up my vacation I was able to take it all in and look forward to my 7 days of R and R!

The first full day of our ocean voyage was spent on the sea. We spent the day on the adults only Serenity deck soaking up the sun while reading and napping.

Later on that night we got all dolled up for elegant night where we enjoyed a fantastic meal

There's always a lil towel creature waiting for us at the end of the night

Dear Winter 2010-2011

Dear Winter 2010- 2011,

You know I'm not one to complain about the weather too much. I understand it's winter and it's suppose to be cold and it's suppose to snow but what you've been slinging on this country this season is straight up disrespectful. You've made your point, we get it, you a bad mother shut your mouth.

You caused Bloomberg to close NYC public schools (this is the 9th time since 1978), you've shut down major Southern cities who aren't equipped to handle such conditions and most of all you stopped me from visiting my sick boyfriend... Yuh gone too far now Biggs (in my Teddy Bruck Shut voice from Shottas).

All I'm asking is to cut the rest of your season short and allow your sister Spring to come a little early. I'm tired of driving around in a dirty car and not being able to park on my block because of the snow piles and ice and most of all I hate staying at work later than I should because the day shift is having difficulties getting to the hospital on time.

So do us all a favor; since you've already broken records and everything, just leave but please don't go out with a bang.

Respectfully,

Nicki

My Christmas wish list

I can't believe it's December 1st already. My goodness, where did 2010 go?!?!

Anyways it's 24 days till Christmas and can you believe I've never ever written a Christmas list, not even as a child. So I decided to give it a try this year...

*Thinking, thinking, still thinking... man this is harder than I thought

1. To have my student loans and car note paid off: Ok, ok I know that's a bit ambitious but hey it is my wish list...lol

2. Tinted windows for Midnight

3. A 1yr XM radio subscription

4. A new purse and a matching wallet would be nice ;-)

I'm feeling this silver Madison dotted op art sophia satchel from Coach

5. A few personal training sessions

6. Some VS PINK sweats

The set pictured above would go perfect with my new raspberry pink Uggs

7. A new pair of gold knot earrings to replace the the ones I lost last year. They were my fav...

This is the exact pair from Macys

8. An island va-cay

Ok, ok let me stop now because as you can see I'm getting a bit ahead of myself...lol. I'm sure I won't be getting any of the things on my list but at least I know what to treat myself to... after all I was quite naughty nice this year ;-)

What's on your Christmas wishlist??

Men and their video games

photo via

Ladies, it's best you pick up a hobby because if your man wasn't tied up enough with Madden he will be since NBA 2k11 dropped a couple of days ago.

What is it about playing video games that men love so much? Maybe it's their competitive nature. They get to brag to their friends about their online scores or trash talk strangers they play across the country or even the world. And let's face it, not everyone is physically inclined to be good at sports so these games are the closest thing to the Super Bowl or play offs they will ever get. For once, height, weight, strength, and endurance doesn't matter, everyone is on an even playing field.

So ladies before you throw their video game consoles out the window, allow them a few hours to escape from reality, release some stress, and hang out with their friends but if they start OD'ing, do what you have to do *waves my bat in the air* lol...jk ;-)

Ummm am I ready for some football??

So it's football season and there is nothing I hate more than football season but on Sunday and Monday nights I do feel kind of left out. Everyone is watching the games and commenting about them on facebook and even though I could care less, I still wanna be apart and I've found the perfect way to do that. While I was on my weekly pantie spree (yeah I'm kinda obsessed), I saw some NFL underwear at Victoria Secret. So now I can finally be down!! I can support the home team.. on my behind.

Sooooo ummmm am I ready for some football now??

I'm actually blaming Adam

At about 4:30 this morning I was awakened from my deep slumber by some of the most powerful cramps I've ever felt. As I searched for my special stash of Ibuprofen, one could mistake me for a dope fiend looking for my lost supply. My heart raced a little faster as I came across the small white bottle with the promise of bringing me some relief. I opened it up and to my dismay it was empty. I fired the poor bottle across the room and raised my fist in the air cursing Eve for the physical pain her sin caused mankind... well womankind. But you know what? Where was Adam when that slick talking serpent was tempting Eve? I'm not blaming Eve, nah I'm actually blaming Adam.

After re- reading Genesis 3:1-6 I realized that Adam was in fact present when the Devil was pumping Eve with his lies of her becoming like God. Verse 6 says:

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat

What a revelation?! All this time I thought it was Eve wandering alone in the garden, away from her husband, up to no good when that fool was actually standing right beside her....smh. Eve had been deceived by the serpent and fallen to her own desires to be like God but Adam.... in his case, he was not deceived, he made an informed decision to eat the fruit. How do I know this? Read down a little further to verse 12 when God questioned the couple about eating the fruit:

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

He didn't say the serpent tricked me (like Eve confessed) he blamed the woman and had the nerve to remind God that it was the woman that He gave him. Just like a man... never taking responsibility for their actions.

So as I dig through my purse and finally find the medication filled bottle, I swallow the two oblong shaped white pills dry, I come to conclusion that I'm actually blaming Adam...lol

* Disclaimer* please note this post was written early in the morning while in tremendous pain and I, the author, don't even believe My account of what happened that day in the Garden of Eden. I'll promise to write my true thoughts another time, when I can give my opinion without bias to either sex...lol

World Cup Anyone??

So I haven't really been into the World Cup. I've caught a few games here and there but I don't have a team I'm rooting for or anything. Nothing beats 1998 when Jamaica's Reggae Boyz qualified for the FIFA World Cup and Jamaicans around the world went crazy. Do you guys remember that? Anyway if I knew Team USA was hiding this sexy beast, Oguchi Oneywu, maybe I would have tuned into the USA vs. England match. All I have to say is they now have a new fan. *waves American flag*

GO TEAM USA!!

My thought of the day:

Ain't this the truth! Especially in my life *sigh* Although I'm not talking about cats and dogs here...lol

Dora the Explorer

So I just turned on my TV and it was on one of the Nickelodeon channels and Dora the Explorer was playing. I was watching some old episodes of The Cosby Show this morning before I went to sleep. Anyway I was checking my email and facebook, not really listening until I heard Dora say she was on her way home to see her mother because she's having a baby. My head shot up with the quickness and she now had my undivided attention. First of all I didn't know this child had parents, secondly this woman has no business having anymore children. I mean she lets her daughter travel the world unsupervised with a monkey. Where is CPS when you need them? Finally Dora gets home and I see her parents for the first time and they don't have one new baby but two. And the first thing Dora says is she can't wait till they get older so they can explore the world together *side eye*. Well one things for sure my child will not be watching Dora because they will not developing her bad habits. I will not be raising no street wanderer...lol

My morning prayer

Dear Lord,

So far today I'm doing alright.

I haven't gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or self indulgent. I haven't whined, complained, cursed, or eaten chocolate. I haven't charged anything on my credit cards.

But I'll be getting out of bed in a minute and I think that I will really need your help then.

By: Anonymous

Have a Happy Sabbath everyone and don't sweat the small stuff, hand it over to the Lord. He got you!