Cruisin....

I am back from vacation! I relaxed. I walked around New Orleans. I ran and lifted weights. I ate. I ate. And then I probably ate some more! The cruise was fantastic, New Orleans was interesting, and we really had an overall nice time. (And work didn't seem to implode in my absence, so that was good, too.)

We started our trip with a few days of sight-seeing in New Orleans. Crazy schedules and G being sick before we left meant that we had zero plan when we got to New Orleans. But all was well and we walked around, ate beignets, drank coffee, listened to jazz, and drank. We then met up with our Norwegian cruise and headed off to W. Caribbean. Wow. Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. Fantastic! The cruise was very strange, but I really enjoyed our room with the giant window, the restaurants, the pool, the deluxe gym, the outdoor running track, and the incredibly friendly staff.

I have lots of photos but thought I might share a few early on with you folks...

Wait... what? You want more shots of me? *Blush* Of course!

Here I am, rocking my now baggy size 8 jeans and medium shirt. We're about to embark on a day of touring, and....

Hurricane drinking! Oh yeah, you have to do it, right? That was almost nothing but alcohol. The first few drinks (before the ice melted a bit) tasted like cough syrup.

And the best thing I ate while in New Orleans? This beautiful plate of red beans and rice with andouille sausage and blackened chicken... (bad photo...)

Gracious me, but that was delicious.

So what can I say.... New Orleans was pretty, the cruise was great, and the skies were mostly blue...

And yeah, I gained a few pounds on the cruise. The fitness trainer on board said that on average people gain between 7 and 14 pounds on a week-long cruise!!!!!! I believe it, and managed to come in under seven pounds of weight gain -- so go me, go me, go me.

I was not ever particularly motion sick on board the ship (surprisingly) but was crazy motion sick all day yesterday when back on dry land and in my office. I was so dizzy, I felt really out of sorts. It's all gone today, thank heavens. So back to the exercise grind tomorrow, and I've been counting WW points since I returned.

And now for the next vacation... Greece and Turkey anyone????