The Pamplemoose & Phoenixmee Family Cruise Report, Dec. 9-16

pamplemoose77 · 12-17-2006

---- Countdown to Cruiseday -----
As some of you know, I am a bit of a procrastinator when it comes to packing and cleaning (and most other tasks that seem at all arduous, honestly).. so I had the great idea to just wait for Matt to come home on the night of Dec. 7th to help me with the packing. This way when I spazzed out the next day about "did I pack the _________ ?" he'd be able to say, "yes, darling sweet, brilliant wife, you DID in fact pack the ___________" Great plan, right?!

Our night of packing started like any other night of packing... with me dawdling on the computer and Matt eating. Finally the time had come. We pulled out the suitcases... and began our quest to pack 4 ppl's swimsuits, casual clothes, dressy clothes, and formal clothes for 7 nights. And don't forget the shoes... they took up almost a whole suitcase of their own. Matt began to pack his clothes.. I began to pack everyone elses. About 2.2 minutes into packing his clothes, Matt asks where the garment bag is.

"Um, we don't have one. We've been borrowing my parents' bag.. but this time they're going with us.. so we don't have one"
"So what am I supposed to do with my suit and tuxedo???"
"Well I was thinking that you would fold them into a suitcase with the rest of the clothes"
At this point I notice Matt's veins begin to pop out a little on his forehead... and then watched a grimace wash over his face...
"Will that not work?" I ask sweetly and innocently.
*more veins begin to pop*

"Do you KNOW how MUCH this tux cost?!? THIS is an $800 tux!!! I will NOT ruin it by packing it!!!!"
Um, well... "So do you want to go buy a garment bag?"
"Well I'm NOT going to just ruin my tux!"
"Ok, well Walmart is still open"

*at this point all of his veins are fully popped out and a look of complete exasperation tinged with a bit of rage sweeps over his face*
he looked a little bit like this, but with more anger than pain..

"I'm in my F'ing pajamas! I'm not going to F'ing Walmart! I'll go in the morning"
"Well I don't think that's a good plan because we already have too much to finish in the morning and I was hoping we'd be done
packing tonight"
"OMG" obscenity, obscenity, obscenity... stomping, kicking, waving fists in air...
"Alrighty... well you have fun with your packing"... and I leave to find some solace with my RFF's online.... I'm not sure we spoke more than 10 more words to each other after that.... but um, on the plus side, we did mostly finish packing by about 1:45 that morning.... on the down side I was secretly wondering why on earth I booked a 7 day cruise in a tiny room with Mr. Stompy
--------
The next morning Matt goes to workout while I finish packing and run some errands. Sadly Matt has told me that his extra large paycheck is in fact already in the bank account... which prompts me to do just a "little bit" more shopping. A quick run to the store for a $12 dollar black tie winds up costing $85... but no matter, we're on vacation! And without that black tie, formal night would be RUINED! So, it's not my fault. Plus, Kayli (my 8 year old) needed a shirt for western night.. again, not my fault.. blame the cruise industry!

I finish shopping and get a much needed pedicure (you know that scene in Dumb and Dumber when Harry and Lloyd get a pedicure in a little placed called Aspen?! yah... that was me). I had a very lovely conversation with the woman sitting next to me, and secretly wished that I was going on the cruise with her instead of Mr. Stompy... I was tempted to ask for her email and explain that I thought she could in fact be my new best friend.. but decided that might infact be the exhaustion talking.

We had arranged to leave at 1pm... but my parent's weren't ready yet... How this is possible is beyond me.. .they had packed 2 days prior! And only had 2 of them! No matter... we arrange to leave without them because we have a date with destiny that night... we are to dine with the StewartG clan! I kiss all my furbabies goodbye and try to hold back tears (you would understand if you knew my precious Ella

-- properly pronounced "Ew-wa" with a baby voice)... and by 1:40 we are on the road!
Yeehaw!

The trip down was uneventful. God bless portable dvd players! We make excellent time to The Woodlands and decide to stall by buying yet MORE stuff at Target. Soon enough it was time to meet up with the G's! I think I was more excited about this dinner than I was about Western night on the cruise! Stewart met us on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant wearing his pinko commie lawyer clothes and looked quite dashing! I think he told me those weren't actually his true lawyer clothes, but then were fancier than the t-shirt and shorts I'd met him in, so it counts. We were escorted inside to meet Kelli for the first time, and also Adrienne and Iain. We enjoyed our Mediterranean food and conversations, and the kids enjoyed running around the restaurant. Isabel (my 6yo) soon decided it was high time for a dance recital... so she had me write up invitations on the napkins and pass them out to everyone. Thankfully nobody had other plans, and it was a packed house for the recital...

After Isabel's solo, Adrienne joined in...

And then we forced the older siblings to pose for a photo as well...

And of course the grownups...

We talked about how great peep fest was going to be... said goodbye for 10 minutes or so, and then headed back to meet my parents at my Aunt and Uncle's weekend house (Frogwood).

The girls and Matt had never been to Frogwood, and they were impressed with it's size and niceness... Isabel asked me why WE didn't have a weekend house, and I explained that Mommy and Matt were not both lawyers in Houston and were happy to have our one house. (and no, Stewart does not know my aunt and uncle... I already checked ;-) )

After getting the girls set up with a movie, my parents decided to teach Matt and I how to 2 step... afterall, Western night was quickly approaching. I eyed Mr. Stompy suspiciously and sized up the potential for disaster with this plan.
"I'm gonna need some booze first"
No problem! Frogwood has a well stocked liquor cabinet and a margarita mix in the fridge... perfect! Let the dance lessons begin! We mastered the base step fairly quickly (and by "we mastered" I mean I could do it and Mr. Stompy was ok as long as he counted it out) Soon it was time to learn the fancier steps... and here is where things started to fall apart.

Time for more booze. Ok.. back to dancing...

after about 45 minutes it's decided that Mr Stompy and I are NO Fred and Ginger, but we can probably hold our own on Western night... assuming the lights are low, the music is easy to count, and we don't deviate from the basic step. Success! We all snuggle down in our beds while visions of cruising dance through our heads....

Sukidog · 12-17-2006

Lovin' this. Mr. Stompy

jx2 · 12-17-2006

Great start.

I want to hear Mr. Stompy's side of this story

.

Tommygurl · 12-17-2006

Hi Charity..
Glad you had a good trip!!!!!!

TTYL.......

silvergirl · 12-17-2006

Ooohh Charity..........another report!!

I can hardly wait! Your week seemed to go by so quickly!

We missed you on the boards!

Just wasn't the same.

So, did you have a great time?? Did they have "informal" nites? I'm wondering weather to pack a suit or just a nice shirt with khaki pants for hubby for that night. We're leaving in a few days and our cruise has 3 formal, 3 informal and 5 casual nights. I'm in such denial over the packing...for four people,

(our kids are coming along, of course) that I keep putting it off. Had good intentions this weekend, but crapped out on the whole deal!

I kept sneaking back to these forums.......to escape!

I'll have to do something with all the clothes I've thrown all over our bed.....if I want to sleep in it tonight!

Can't wait to see some pics of your trip!

Loree · 12-17-2006

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you started your report

and it's so good

Can't wait for the next installment.................

Doggiemom · 12-17-2006

Great start on the report Charity....welcome back!!!!!

BonnyW · 12-17-2006

Matt is a ThingMaster like MikeW

TAPPY · 12-17-2006

I think I am married to Mr Stompys long lost brother.

MikeW · 12-17-2006

What's wrong with Mr. Stompy?
He sounds completely normal to me.

dudeadam · 12-17-2006

I like it so far. I think that Mr Stompy had a good reason to do so. Matt is such a likeable guy. I am sure you were not mad at him for long.

BTW, Hi Matt. How's it going dude?
I'll be in town for Christmas. Maybe we can hook up.

**SunKneeMarie** · 12-17-2006

tooo funny! lovin' Mr Stompy and the recital invitations!

jamesblonde · 12-17-2006

Great start Charity. This is so much fun to read.

Get on with it now.

Kellyk · 12-17-2006

Lovin' it! Can't wait to see some pics and see if Mr Stompy came through with the 2 step.

cmsitaly · 12-17-2006

Can't wait to hear more!

12-17-2006	#1 (permalink)
pamplemoose77 añejo Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: dallas - kinda, tx Posts: 9,535	The Pamplemoose & Phoenixmee Family Cruise Report, Dec. 9-16 ---- Countdown to Cruiseday ----- As some of you know, I am a bit of a procrastinator when it comes to packing and cleaning (and most other tasks that seem at all arduous, honestly).. so I had the great idea to just wait for Matt to come home on the night of Dec. 7th to help me with the packing. This way when I spazzed out the next day about "did I pack the _________ ?" he'd be able to say, "yes, darling sweet, brilliant wife, you DID in fact pack the ___________" Great plan, right?! Our night of packing started like any other night of packing... with me dawdling on the computer and Matt eating. Finally the time had come. We pulled out the suitcases... and began our quest to pack 4 ppl's swimsuits, casual clothes, dressy clothes, and formal clothes for 7 nights. And don't forget the shoes... they took up almost a whole suitcase of their own. Matt began to pack his clothes.. I began to pack everyone elses. About 2.2 minutes into packing his clothes, Matt asks where the garment bag is. "Um, we don't have one. We've been borrowing my parents' bag.. but this time they're going with us.. so we don't have one" "So what am I supposed to do with my suit and tuxedo???" "Well I was thinking that you would fold them into a suitcase with the rest of the clothes" At this point I notice Matt's veins begin to pop out a little on his forehead... and then watched a grimace wash over his face... "Will that not work?" I ask sweetly and innocently. more veins begin to pop "Do you KNOW how MUCH this tux cost?!? THIS is an $800 tux!!! I will NOT ruin it by packing it!!!!" Um, well... "So do you want to go buy a garment bag?" "Well I'm NOT going to just ruin my tux!" "Ok, well Walmart is still open" at this point all of his veins are fully popped out and a look of complete exasperation tinged with a bit of rage sweeps over his face he looked a little bit like this, but with more anger than pain.. "I'm in my F'ing pajamas! I'm not going to F'ing Walmart! I'll go in the morning" "Well I don't think that's a good plan because we already have too much to finish in the morning and I was hoping we'd be done packing tonight" "OMG" obscenity, obscenity, obscenity... stomping, kicking, waving fists in air... "Alrighty... well you have fun with your packing"... and I leave to find some solace with my RFF's online.... I'm not sure we spoke more than 10 more words to each other after that.... but um, on the plus side, we did mostly finish packing by about 1:45 that morning.... on the down side I was secretly wondering why on earth I booked a 7 day cruise in a tiny room with Mr. Stompy -------- The next morning Matt goes to workout while I finish packing and run some errands. Sadly Matt has told me that his extra large paycheck is in fact already in the bank account... which prompts me to do just a "little bit" more shopping. A quick run to the store for a $12 dollar black tie winds up costing $85... but no matter, we're on vacation! And without that black tie, formal night would be RUINED! So, it's not my fault. Plus, Kayli (my 8 year old) needed a shirt for western night.. again, not my fault.. blame the cruise industry! I finish shopping and get a much needed pedicure (you know that scene in Dumb and Dumber when Harry and Lloyd get a pedicure in a little placed called Aspen?! yah... that was me). I had a very lovely conversation with the woman sitting next to me, and secretly wished that I was going on the cruise with her instead of Mr. Stompy... I was tempted to ask for her email and explain that I thought she could in fact be my new best friend.. but decided that might infact be the exhaustion talking. We had arranged to leave at 1pm... but my parent's weren't ready yet... How this is possible is beyond me.. .they had packed 2 days prior! And only had 2 of them! No matter... we arrange to leave without them because we have a date with destiny that night... we are to dine with the StewartG clan! I kiss all my furbabies goodbye and try to hold back tears (you would understand if you knew my precious Ella -- properly pronounced "Ew-wa" with a baby voice)... and by 1:40 we are on the road! Yeehaw! The trip down was uneventful. God bless portable dvd players! We make excellent time to The Woodlands and decide to stall by buying yet MORE stuff at Target. Soon enough it was time to meet up with the G's! I think I was more excited about this dinner than I was about Western night on the cruise! Stewart met us on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant wearing his pinko commie lawyer clothes and looked quite dashing! I think he told me those weren't actually his true lawyer clothes, but then were fancier than the t-shirt and shorts I'd met him in, so it counts. We were escorted inside to meet Kelli for the first time, and also Adrienne and Iain. We enjoyed our Mediterranean food and conversations, and the kids enjoyed running around the restaurant. Isabel (my 6yo) soon decided it was high time for a dance recital... so she had me write up invitations on the napkins and pass them out to everyone. Thankfully nobody had other plans, and it was a packed house for the recital... After Isabel's solo, Adrienne joined in... And then we forced the older siblings to pose for a photo as well... And of course the grownups... We talked about how great peep fest was going to be... said goodbye for 10 minutes or so, and then headed back to meet my parents at my Aunt and Uncle's weekend house (Frogwood). The girls and Matt had never been to Frogwood, and they were impressed with it's size and niceness... Isabel asked me why WE didn't have a weekend house, and I explained that Mommy and Matt were not both lawyers in Houston and were happy to have our one house. (and no, Stewart does not know my aunt and uncle... I already checked ;-) ) After getting the girls set up with a movie, my parents decided to teach Matt and I how to 2 step... afterall, Western night was quickly approaching. I eyed Mr. Stompy suspiciously and sized up the potential for disaster with this plan. "I'm gonna need some booze first" No problem! Frogwood has a well stocked liquor cabinet and a margarita mix in the fridge... perfect! Let the dance lessons begin! We mastered the base step fairly quickly (and by "we mastered" I mean I could do it and Mr. Stompy was ok as long as he counted it out) Soon it was time to learn the fancier steps... and here is where things started to fall apart. Time for more booze. Ok.. back to dancing... after about 45 minutes it's decided that Mr Stompy and I are NO Fred and Ginger, but we can probably hold our own on Western night... assuming the lights are low, the music is easy to count, and we don't deviate from the basic step. Success! We all snuggle down in our beds while visions of cruising dance through our heads.... __________________ -charity- my first trip report <-- our favorite souvenir!

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12-17-2006	#2 (permalink)
Sukidog reposado Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: ON, Canada Posts: 1,384	Lovin' this. Mr. Stompy

12-17-2006	#3 (permalink)
jx2 añejo Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Pac. NW. Posts: 3,950	Great start. I want to hear Mr. Stompy's side of this story .

12-17-2006	#4 (permalink)
Tommygurl crab killer Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: I am Canadian!! Posts: 14,284	Hi Charity.. Glad you had a good trip!!!!!! TTYL.......

12-17-2006	#5 (permalink)
silvergirl Pomegranite tequila lover Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 3,341	Ooohh Charity..........another report!! I can hardly wait! Your week seemed to go by so quickly! We missed you on the boards! Just wasn't the same. So, did you have a great time?? Did they have "informal" nites? I'm wondering weather to pack a suit or just a nice shirt with khaki pants for hubby for that night. We're leaving in a few days and our cruise has 3 formal, 3 informal and 5 casual nights. I'm in such denial over the packing...for four people, (our kids are coming along, of course) that I keep putting it off. Had good intentions this weekend, but crapped out on the whole deal! I kept sneaking back to these forums.......to escape! I'll have to do something with all the clothes I've thrown all over our bed.....if I want to sleep in it tonight! Can't wait to see some pics of your trip!

12-17-2006	#6 (permalink)
Loree añejo Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: north of Pittsburgh Posts: 9,477	Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!! you started your report and it's so good Can't wait for the next installment.................

12-17-2006	#7 (permalink)
Doggiemom añejo Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Humble, Texas Posts: 6,067	Great start on the report Charity....welcome back!!!!!

12-17-2006	#8 (permalink)
BonnyW añejo Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Left Coast...So Cal Posts: 8,865	Matt is a ThingMaster like MikeW

12-17-2006	#9 (permalink)
TAPPY añejo Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Louisiana Posts: 15,065	I think I am married to Mr Stompys long lost brother.

12-17-2006	#10 (permalink)
MikeW añejo Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Moorpark, CA Posts: 9,275	What's wrong with Mr. Stompy? He sounds completely normal to me.

12-17-2006	#11 (permalink)
dudeadam añejo Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Gulfport, Mississippi Gulf Coast Posts: 1,541	I like it so far. I think that Mr Stompy had a good reason to do so. Matt is such a likeable guy. I am sure you were not mad at him for long. BTW, Hi Matt. How's it going dude? I'll be in town for Christmas. Maybe we can hook up.

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12-17-2006	#12 (permalink)
SunKneeMarie character encapsulator Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Texas Posts: 26,726	tooo funny! lovin' Mr Stompy and the recital invitations!

12-17-2006	#13 (permalink)
jamesblonde No longer an intern Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: South of Seattle Posts: 7,637	Great start Charity. This is so much fun to read. Get on with it now.

12-17-2006	#14 (permalink)
Kellyk añejo Join Date: May 2005 Location: Dallas,TX Posts: 5,711	Lovin' it! Can't wait to see some pics and see if Mr Stompy came through with the 2 step.

12-17-2006	#15 (permalink)
cmsitaly añejo Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 3,082	Can't wait to hear more!