No Problem Mon

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. It’s just been hard to find a moment to make an update with our recent trip and returning back to work this week. Thankfully, we have a half day in the office today and Monday off. :) Nice transition back, huh??

About Jamaica – it was fabulous. More than fabulous – it was the best vacation I’ve ever taken. We did everything! Scuba diving, snorkeling, beach time, catamaran tour, swimming in caves, karaoke, etc. There were times when I felt like Steven and I were the only ones on the island and other times when we were surrounded with other guests in fun activities. Our veranda had a free swinging hammock and we spent a great deal of time it in reading Harry Potter – lol – it’s vacation, you’re supposed to relax!

The weather was a little cloudy/rainy Monday afternoon so we played beach volleyball for about 2 hours with other guests. It was a load of fun and I was surprisingly good – better than the other girls who were playing. Go me! One of the funniest moments of the trip happened during the last game. Steven and I were on opposite teams. I was standing at the net on my team’s side and I looked over and saw Steven and two of his teammates laughing hysterically. Steven was actually bent over and his face was BRIGHT red. Immediately I knew what had happened – he farted and they heard him. So I mouthed to him “Did you just fart?” All he could do was nod his head in shame. His teammate said, very loudly, “Dude – did you just rip one?” We quit playing volleyball after that…and I will never let him live it down!

I promised him that if I blogged about his farting that I would tell about my meltdown that we like to refer to as the “Scuba Incident”. We scheduled ourselves to take the beginner scuba course Tuesday morning and go on a dive immediately following. We had to swim 8 laps in the main pool which we both did, no problem. Next we had to watch a video of what to expect on the dive. I was kind of freaked out. The video kept saying that if you ascended too quickly back to the surface you could suffer major injury to your ears or your lungs could explode. Umm..way to make me feel safe! Next we moved back into the pool to learn some basic skills such as breathing from the regulator, what to do if your air runs out, and how to get water out of your goggles if they leak. During one of the skills my mask flooded with water and sucked water up my nose. I panicked. I immediately stood up and felt the weight of the scuba gear and my weight belt on my chest. I couldn’t escape this fear that I was going to dive, be trapped under 35 feet of water and unable to get air. I immediately began crying and I couldn’t gain control of myself. After the class finished their underwater skills, Steven came over to me and said he wouldn’t go out on the dive since I was so upset. That only made it worse. I knew that scuba was what he was looking forward to the most on our trip and I didn’t want to be the reason that he couldn’t go. I begged – or actually threw a fit including flailing my hands about for everyone to see and demanded – that he go without me, but he refused to leave me. It was embarrassing. People were having their breakfast all along the pool, watching my meltdown with pity-filled faces, and I couldn’t calm down. So then I said, “Fine – I’ll go. I’ll just dive out there and drown if it’s that important to you.” (Melodramatic??) Needless to say – we didn’t dive on Tuesday. We got back to our room (I’m still sobbing – thank the Lord for big sunglasses!) and the maid was cleaning our room. All I wanted to do was throw myself on the bed and have the hardest sob of my life but I had to stifle it. Steven has this look of horror on his face and kept pleading with me to calm down to which I responded, “This is calm. You have no idea how bad I want to freak out right now – I just feel so scared and upset.” The look of horror increased as he said, “THIS is calm? You want to cry harder???!!!” Twenty minutes later I got it together and we had a pleasant afternoon on the beach.

On Wednesday I went back, faced my fears and did the skills course again. I passed with flying colors and we went for a dive that morning. It was amazing. I was very nervous at first and took some time to get used to mouth breathing. But it was so worth it. The wildlife that far below is spectacular. The feeling of swimming around with so many fish and sea creatures floating around you is indescribable. I was so happy to have experienced that with Steven and to have conquered my fears. He was beaming at me when we got out of the water and back onto the boat. I could tell he was very proud of me for trying again and succeeding. We are planning a trip back next year. We want to get certified for open water diving at the resort so that we can dive together on our trips in the future. I think it will be something really nice for us to enjoy together.

Unfortunately, we had to come home on Friday. I was so sad to say goodbye. The people of Jamaica are inspirational. So happy and carefree (it could be all the “smoke” they talk about). I have never felt so carefree or peaceful in my life. I can honestly say (aside from previously mentioned Scuba Incident) that I did not worry or fret once during my trip. And if you know me – that’s saying something big! The concierge was waiting for us when we arrived to check us in and take us to our room and they scheduled our transfer back to the airport at checkout without us having to ask. It was fantastic. I would strongly recommend Couples Swept Away to any couple – at any age. There is so much to enjoy! I have pictures posted on my Facebook page of the trip if you would like to view them - it's too must to post here!

A side note regarding reality – we are having our master bathroom redone today. :) We are having tile laid and a new double sink vanity installed. We also are updated all the hardware, lighting and mirrors. We’re hoping it will be done by tomorrow. I have friends coming into town this weekend I would love for them to see it completed!