Caribben Cruise Top 10

As most of you know I was able to go on a fantastic Caribbean cruise with my best friend Kim and her family, the Cranes. The Cruise was from Sunday, February 10-Saturday February 16. It went to Key West Florida, Cozumel Mexico, Grand Cayman, and Montego Bay Jamaica. It was seriously fun with a lot of great adventures. I decided the best way to tell about the Cruise is to make a Top 10 list. This has been a pretty difficult list to compose and was hard to narrow down to 10 but I did my best.

The Top 10 Best Moments of the Crane Family Caribbean Cruise 2008

10. Sleeping and naps whenever I wanted.

9. Towel animals at night. Mostly Kim's reactions to the towel animals. She claims she is going to learn how to make them and then put them on her kids and guests beds at night. I am a skeptic to if this will ever really happen.

8. Joe Crane Comments/Actions

"Lindsi, you look a lot worse today than you did yesterday!" He was referring to my leg but his presentation was priceless!

(This is Joe blowing bubbles in a dining room.)

7. Cruise activities like dodge ball and rock climbing. I'm not gonna lie I was the worst dodge ball player ever. I just hid behind other players. It was embarrassing. :)

6. Dancing the nights away. Kim and her sister-in-laws know how to get down. They also can sing a pretty impressive karaoke. (Dixie Chicks, clearly.)

5. Formal dinners. It's always kind of fun to get dressed up and look nice.

4. Chillin' at the beach in 80-90 degree weather! It was spectacular!

3. Playing games with the Crane's. They can get pretty competitive which makes it that much more entertaining!

2. Going on zip-lines through the Jamaican jungle. Zip-lining was great and the Jamaican guides were pretty hilarious. It was extremely fun!

1. Spending a week away from work and stress chillin' with my best friend! Everyone thought we would get sick of each other but we didn't! We actually were ready to spend more time together the next day!

Mexico, Scooters, an Ambulance, and an IV

So we are back from our fun filled Caribbean cruise! It was a wonderful and much needed vacation! I will fill you in on the highlights of the trip later but first I have got a great story to tell. This is one of those stories that you will hear and think, "Oh yeah, of course Lindsi did that." It's just the way I roll. So here goes...

On Tuesday our cruise went to Cozumel, Mexico. Everyone had different ideas of what they wanted to do so we split up to go on our own adventures. Myself, Kim, and her sister-in-law Chelsea decided to rent scooters and drive around the island. We found a rental place (that ripped us off) and decided to just start driving in search of a beach. Kim was the leader and she was doing an excellent job. Kim saw a beach that looked promising and decided to turn in. Now I was just enjoying the ride and probably not fully paying attention. I looked up and saw Kim stopping and I panicked. I slammed on the breaks and then did the dumbest thing I could have. I turned the handle bars therefore turning the scooter on top of myself. My body skidded across the pavement with the scooter on top of me. It scared me pretty badly but I was able to get up and was fine. I had road rashed up my arms and legs pretty good. I also had a little bruise and cut on my chin. My helmet was scratched up, meaning it and the chin guard saved me from a lot more damage.

About 2 minutes after the crash an ambulance came speeding down the road with lights and siren blaring. I looked at Kim and Chelsea and we all were sure that it wasn't for me. Well, it was! The ambulance came and then the police showed up! They wanted to look at my wounds and clean them up. They ended up pouring peroxide over them (which you're not really supposed to do any more) and got me cleaned up. The police were taking notes and asking me questions in Spanish. I used my best Spanish skills to answer but I probably told them weird things. I don't know. It was a pretty entertaining experience.

Once I was all cleaned up we went on our way. We still went to the beach, rode all around the island, and had a fun day. When we got back to the scooter rental place they were ticked about the damage done to the scooter. They tried to tell me that is would cost more than $300.00 to fix the damages. I got pretty upset in return and fought with them a little but I ended up giving them $100.00. It was my only souvenir I bought. Lame.

The story doesn't end there though. Throughout the week my leg started to hurt more every day. It looked super disgusting and started to swell up and ooze. By Friday I was in a lot of pain. I was at the airport to come home on Saturday and it was huge, red, and oozing a weird green liquid. The flight home was one of the most miserable experiences of my life. When I got back to Utah I went to the emergency room and they told me I had a horrible infection and cellulitis. They put an IV in my arm and I had to go back every 24 hours for IV antibiotics. I had to do that for 5 days. They took the IV out last Wednesday and I just have to take oral antibiotics for 7 more days. It has turned out to be one of those adventures that is a good story but I would have rather gone without it. My leg looks way better now and I think the infection is pretty much gone. However looking at the bright side of this experience I can now say I have crashed a scooter, been in a Mexican ambulance, and had an IV in my arm for 5 days. Can you say that?

This is my leg when I went to the emergency room. All the bad sores are on the side you can't see but if you look at my ankle and the top of my foot you can see how swollen it was. Kind of nasty.

Goodbye Snow!

I've had enough of this snow and the horrible commute so I'm out of here! I leave this evening for an exotic 7 day Caribbean cruise with the fabulous Crane family. I plan to come back a little tanner, less stressed, and fatter. The next time that snow starts to fall or your stuck in traffic in horrible weather conditions, think of Kim and I lounging on the deck of The Radiance of the Seas. I'll let you know of any adventures we have when we return! Peace out!

This Proves It!

I have always known that I was one of kind, unique, my very own me! However, the following website helped solidify in my mind that their really is nobody else quite like me. At this site you type in your first and last name and it tells you how many people in the U.S. have the same first name as you and then the same last name. It is kind of cool. My results were:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

There are 246,215 people with the last name Sullivan but there are 0 Lindsi's. I always new that i would help me out! You should try it out and let me know how it goes. It's kind of interesting.

The Quest for Sleep Continues...

First of all I would like to say thank you to everyone that has provided me with suggestions and advice. I've given it a good solid week and seen little improvements so far. I've tried many of the items suggested including Ambien (Scott said the exact same thing my doctor said. He's ready already!) I have to say that sleeping pills have the opposite affect on me and generally make me hyper or wide awake. Caffeine on the other hand has been known to put me to sleep. For a while I felt like drinking a Mountain Dew before I went to sleep was a wise plan (and I still kind of do because it worked) however, I know that is not good for me. So, I have decided that their are many contributors to my inability to sleep. They were all mentioned in the comments and they include the following:

• stress and big decisions
• bad nightly routine
• inability to turn my ADHD brain off
• too much Diet Mountain Dew (Hard to imagine, I know.)
• anxiety because I'm not sleeping (I laughed at Hannah at first for this one but then I realized it is what is happening to me! You're smart girl.)
• knowing I have to get up at 6:00 and dreading it/worrying about it

I set some goals for this coming week. I'm going to try them out and let ya'll know if their are any improvements.

1. Be lying in bed at 11:00 with lights off, computer put away, etc.
2. No watching Survivor before bed (I'm such a nerd.)
3. Stay calm and don't worry about not going to sleep.
4. No naps. (Sometimes I accidently fall asleep at 7 or 8ish cause I'm so tired from not sleeping. It doesn't help the situation at all.)

I'm going to give it my all. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish me luck.

AGRHHH! I CAN'T SLEEP!

In the past few months I have this newly developed problem in my life. I can't sleep. It is currently two o'clock in the morning and I've got nothing. Last night I finally fell asleep at about 4:30 am and I had to get up for work at 6:15. Shoot me now. The thing I don't understand is why the sudden problem? I have always been a super sleeper! It was actually something I was proud of! Now I struggle hardcore to get to sleep and then I am tired and grumpy Gus all day long. I feel like I have tried everything I can think of. I change beds, read, watch t.v., blog, take pills, etc. Once I am a sleep I am totally fine and I stay asleep. I just can't get there. So the purpose of this post is to present this question. What should I do? Any suggestions? I'm dying here team.

Miss Sullivan's Class Still Says The Darndest Things...

I have been saving these up for a while. This class I have is full of mischief, sneakiness, and questions. It makes for some great material.

• Coming up at the beginning of February we are having a Chinese New Year parade. We have been working on making dragon masks, fish lanterns, dragon puppets, etc. The students wear a big dragon costume and parade around for all of the school and parents to see. (I hate some of the traditions I have stumbled into at this school.) My class is extremely excited about this activity and we have been talking about it a lot. Yesterday a little girl comes up to my crying really hard. This is the conversation that followed... Me: "What is wrong sweetheart?" Student: "I CAN'T BE IN THE PARADE!!" Me: "What do you mean? Everyone gets to be in the parade." Student: "No, I can't be! I'M NOT CHINESE!" What else was there for me to do in this situation but smile.
• During football season the rivalry between Utah and BYU filtered into my classroom. It came through in everything we did for a few days. On the last day of school before the game, the class was writing in their journals. I walked past one of my students and started laughing out loud. For his picture he had drawn BYU in big blue letters. He had then taken a red crayon, crossed out the BYU and wrote UTAH RULES over the top. I told him I thought it was funny and I liked it. He then looked up at me and said very seriously, "Miss Sullivan, football is not a funny thing. Football is VERY important." I wonder where he learned that?
• I started a new management program in January. During the day my class is trying to earn different pieces of a Mr. Potato Head to get fun rewards. One day I was getting a piece out of the back flap of the potato. As I was doing this I knocked the whole back flap off. When I drop something in class it is kind of a stampede of 20 kids trying to be the first to help me. They just love me that much. (Yeah right.) So they all come rushing toward me and one boy grabs it and hands it to me. He then proudly said, "Here Miss Sullivan! You dropped Mr. Potato Head's butt and everyone really wanted to get it but I grabbed it first!" This put me into hysterics, which put my class into hysterics, and they didn't even know why we were laughing.
• Warning: Don't be offended, I just thought this was cute. Last week we were talking about Martin Luther King, Jr. We had been discussing him and the Civil Rights Movement all week long. My class got really into it and liked learning about Dr. King. At the end of the week a little girl said to me, "I am thankful for Martin Luther King because we don't have school on Monday." The girl sitting next to her looked at her funny and then responded by saying, "Well, I'm thankful for Martin Luther King because now we have black people!"
• We do this thing in class called snap and clap. When we are practicing spelling words or something we snap the vowels and clap the consonants as we say them. At the beginning of the year most of my students couldn't snap. I took a lot of time teaching them how to snap and some of them I just taught how to pretend to snap by making the motion. Last week one of my parent helpers said, "My son tells me that you are a rapper." I am sure I looked at her totally confused because she laughed and said, "He told me last week that you are a rapper and you are teaching them how to be a rappers. I asked him why he thinks you rap and he said because you are the best finger snapper he had ever met." We had a good laugh about this. I always knew I had a snapping talent I just didn't realize it could take me far.

That is all I have for now. Writing this has been good for me though because it helps me remember sometimes the little devils are cute, funny, and lovable. For past funny moments from my wonderful first graders, click here.

New Years Resolutions

I hate New Years Resolutions. I know that self reflection is important and can help us grow and improve. However, all New Years Resolutions are for me is another way to disappoint and let myself down. They really don't help my self esteem. In past years I have had a dear friend help me by suggesting resolutions I should adopt. Also, not really a self esteem booster but pretty funny. This year I decided to make only one resolution for myself and to make it easy and very attainable. I decided my goal for the 2008 year is to always wear socks with closed toed shoes. I'm sure my feet stink when I don't wear socks but because of the whole smell thing I'm not sure how bad so socks is a good idea for everyones sake. Seeing as my profession requires business casual attire I can't really slip on the old white cotton socks. That being the case, I went out and purchased a whole bunch of those nylonish not-sock thingamajigs. I even purchased three new pair of work appropriate shoes that don't currently have the nasty feet smell encrusted in them. I was sure that all my efforts would help me succeed and feel a good sense of accomplishment for the 2008 year. Today is January 9, 2008. Nine days into the year and SHOCKER I've already broken my resolution. I ran out of clean nylon sockaroonies today. I hunted for an alternative but refused to wear nasty stinky dirty socks and therefore went sockless. So I did it again, disappointed and let myself down by breaking my New Years Resolutions. I'm sure deep down I assumed all along that I wouldn't make it longer than two weeks and so I really don't feel bad. Oh well. Who needs to become better anyways. That's totally overrated. Happy New Year!

Are You For Real?

So I am not generally one who laughs out loud at funny things when I am all alone. I know some people laugh out loud at The Sunday Comics, TV commercials, books, newspapers, etc. I just don't happen to do that very often. I have recently subscribed to The Best of Youtube Podcasts. If you haven't checked it out you should. http://thebestofyoutube.com/ or just subscribe to the free podcasts through itunes. You won't regret it. So the other day I was watching a few of the videos and I honestly was laughing out loud at two of them. I realize this proves that I get a kick out of watching other people make complete idiots out of themselves. I believe that would only be mean if I didn't daily make an idiot out of myself as well. :) I have posted them below. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

I watched this video more than ten times and it got funnier every time. My favorite part is at the end when he says, "It is very safe to operate. So continue to call for it." It kills me!

I really want to talk to this guy and find out if he actually thought he saw the horse or if he is just full of crap. I seriously can't stop laughing.

St. Louis Rams

Every time I'm on my computer my dad asks if I am posting on my blog about the Rams. He then proceeds to tell me how everyone wants to read about the Rams and that my blog will be much more popular if I write about them. Now you and I both know that writing about the Rams might actually decrease my blogs popularity, especially this season. However, Slim makes a lot of sacrifices for me so I can make one for him. Here is everything I know about the Rams.

1. Their colors are blue and gold.
   
2. Their home town is St. Louis, Missouri.
   
3. They used to be the Los Angeles Rams until 1995. (I think I even know the year! Slim will be so proud!)


4. The sport they participate in is football.
   
5. They used to have a player with the last name Warner. Which is how Slim became Slim Warner.


6. They now have a player named Torry Holt. The position he plays is unknown to me but Scooter has a Torry Holt jersey. I think his number is 81.


7. Their mascot is the Ram. :)


8. Their record this year is 3-12. They are struggling. This shows what a dedicated and loyal fan my father is. They have only won 3 games and yet he still wears his Rams jersey every Sunday for the games. He tivo's every game and if you accidentally delete the game before he has watched it you will be shunned. I know this one from experience. He travels to various locations around the United States to support his team and he convinces his anti-football daughter to blog about them. I love all of those things about him!

That is really all I know, however that is 8 facts. That is 8 more than I know about any other football team! This is my gift/sacrifice for my father. I will never post about football again. I promise.