Monday in Jamaica

Monday's breakfast was accompanied by live music.

As we were leaving dinner the other night we noticed a tray of fruit and assumed it was for the birds, It was, and they were certainly enjoying it Monday morning.

We spent the day at the pool and I got burned. Yes, I was wearing sunscreen that I reapplied several times. The sun is strong here. I'll do better tomorrow.

Monday evening we gathered on the lawn for the general manager's cocktail hour.

I love a pretty sunset.

Here we are sitting on our patio, waiting for the repeaters' dinner to begin.

this was the menu at the repeaters dinner. There's always too much seafood, but at least the beef and the dessert were good. We were seated at a table with the couple we thought were getting married the other day, but it was their 25th anniversary and they were renewing their wedding vows. We were going to skip the repeaters' dinner becsuse it's long and we have to make too much small talk with our table mates. They do give out prizes but we weren't winners this time. We did win in 2013.

Tonight's entertainment right outside our room was a steel drum band.

Andy grabbed my favorite drink from the bar, a hummingbird, and we listened to the band for a bit.

Jamaican Sunday

Sunday morning view from our room.

A surprise visitor to our room.

We sat on the beach after breakfast. I prefer the pool ... no sand.

Guess who chose to being about his favorite golfer on vacation?

We won the pool general trivia contest! Our prize was this Jamaican necklace. Am I ever going to wear it? Chances are slim. Was it fun to beat the other couples? Absolutely.

One nice perk is the self-serve ice cream machine. It's a nice mid-day treat.

A surprise delivered to our room - champagne and a cheese plate in (late ... or early?) celebration of our anniversary.

Before dinner we stopped off at the martini bar. I had a yummy chocolate martini.

Dinner was at Casanova, the resort's fancy restaurant. We both had the beef filet.

Jamaica Day 1

Allison drove us to O'Hare Saturday morning for our flight to Jamaica. It's our trip that was postponed in November due to a hurricane. We had a bit of breakfast in the United Club but when we were seated on the plane, the flight attendant asked if either of us wanted to fill an empty seat in first class. Andy, being the gentleman he is, gave the seat to me. (It left him with a row all to himself though). I was in the very first row next to a Jehovah's Witness who was going to Jamaica for a month to rebuild houses damaged in the hurricane. He's an electrician from the Minneapolis area. I might have slipped into "reporter mode" but he had quite the story. Anyway, this was breakfast on the plane. The quiche was good. That stuff to the left apparently is chai seed pudding. I had a bite (it's served cold) and ate one tiny piece of pineapple.

We're always greeted at Sans Souci with a cool, almond-scented towel and champagne.

When we arrived, though, our room wasn't ready so we went down to the beach for a late lunch. Nice view. We also looked in the gift shop, made dinner reservations for the week, visited the library ...

saw a wedding on the beach and waited. At least we got the first floor room we wanted by the pool.

Staff dropped off a small "welcome home" fruit tray with chocolate sauce.

We sat at the pool for a bit but decided we needed a nap. We had both been up since before 4:30 a.m. We napped for about two hours then had dinner. Andy had steak that was too salty for him and I had chicken cordon bleu. It was ok but I had a lot to eat all day so wasn't too hungry.

Couldn't pass up the espresso tiramisu for dessert though. Sunday I plan to eat less.

Flashback pantry puzzle

I feel like I'm being watched which, while a bit creepy, is better than having Ruby sitting on the puzzle.

This puzzle is called "Mom's Pantry." Just labels of food items a few decades ago and some still look the same, unless they have changed and I just haven't noticed. Complete!

Blooming bushes

Our Bridal Wreath looks really good this year. I should have taken a picture earlier before the delicate blooms got battered by rain.

Pretty bushes in our yard.

And the hostas look good. I transplanted some from outside the fence into the yard just a couple of weeks ago and they seem to be thriving. I need to add some more dark green and variegated ones to this area.

Oh, no! The vase of flowers I set on the dining room table got mysteriously knocked over while I was at work Thursday. Pretty sure I know who is to blame. Interestingly, they only messed with one of the vases. The one on the buffet was left alone.

Mother’s Day flowers

Andy came home from work yesterday with a huge bouquet of flowers (and a cute ribbon). Apparently, his office decided to buy a bunch of bulk flowers and let employees take home what they wanted. Andy took enough that they filled not one of my vases ...

but two! Hopefully the cats leave them alone.

He also brought home this cupcake that suffered a bit on the commute.

Early Mother’s Day gift

I never know what to tell the kids I'd like for Mother's Day but this year I asked for a mahjong set. I had the one lesson at Allison's church (and won my first time playing, beginner's luck) but maybe with this I can practice and start going to meet-ups. I do have several friends who are interested in learning how to play.

Cat friends

Our neighbors have three indoor/outdoor cats who apparently are very curious why our cats stay inside.

Make yourself at home, cat. I'm not sure what this one's name is but she's a beauty.

This one is funny with their black cat, Frankie, sitting on our air conditioner. The other cat is just chillin' on the sidewalk. Our cats are in the window checking Frankie out.

House Walk day

Sunday was House Walk day. We sold a record number 650 tickets. We started out at the Sloan house that I was at the other day for the WGN filming.

One rule on the House Walk is that guests can't take pictures inside the houses. I took this when the TV crew was there. Interestingly, it's the only bathroom on the main floor. This bathroom (one of 12) shows the tankless toilet using the patented valve of the Sloan Co., (still in business) which provided the income for the company's founder to build this beautiful house. Most Sloan plumbing fixtures are used commercially today so look for it next time you're in a store or office.

Andy doing his thing. This house has ties to the Chicago Roller Skate Co.

This house was built for Chicago mobster Tony Accardo. Not a lot of construction records could be found for this one. It does have a hidden room in the basement and brick tunnel from the house to garage so neighbors couldn't see who was coming and going.

This 1958 Corvette was parked at a house built in 2958 by the founder of the Radio Flyer red wagon company. It's only on its second owner and maintains a lot of the mid-century details. I wish I could have taken some pictures inside (not allowed) because it was giving "Brady Bunch" vibes.

This was from the WGN shoot too, showing the roller skates, Sloan valve and Radio Flyer wagon that represented three of the houses on the walk. The theme was "American Dream Homes" built by tycoons who started successful businesses.

This house was built by the founder of American (Continental) Can Co. Its can were used for Campbell's soup, beer, paint, etc.

After talking to my boss, he said to try to get pics inside so I snapped a few inside the house, trying to be sneaky. Nicely set table, eh?

After going through the houses, Andy and I went to the museum to set up for the volunteers' party. One of the volunteers brought in baskets of booties that people wore as they toured the houses. That's a lot of booties.

I didn't put the program booklet together, but I did design the cover.

One year already?

See that little gold Mickey pin on L's nametag? It's her pin for being on the job for one year.

Here are her some of leaders celebrating with her. Have you ever seen a happier group of people doing their jobs?