The Blonde Diaries

So this morning was my first trip to a gun range.  I just recently held my first gun or guns now that we have 3 in the house but I’ve never tried to fire one.  So this morning we loaded the SUV and met some friends at the gun range. I wasn’t expecting much other than to test out my pink ear muffs and sunglasses while shooting off random shots in all directions. Suffice to say, I did much better than expected.  I’m not an expert on guns by any means but my favorite today was the 9mm Baretta.  I also shot a 9mm Glock, a 38 Bodyguard, and a 22 revolver.  I ended up with two cuts – one a major bleeder – thanks to the Glock and the Revolver so I won’t be shooting those again unless I have protective gloves. The revolver wasn’t terrible but let’s just hope you need to shoot at the side of a barn because accurate it was not.  The little 38 was just too little with too long of a pull.  Overall a good day because I was able to shoot the target between the eyes, through the heart, and shot off his penis a few times.  So if you plan on breaking into my house I would suggest a cup and armor, otherwise you are going down and it ain’t going to feel too well.

Now on to the fun part.  While we were there we noticed A TON of tourists.  Once you start thinking about it and looking into gun laws in other countries you understand why a place like that would have a ton of tourists popping off rounds.  We had a few Europeans next to us who were taking photos and recording their shooting (revolvers and a 9mm) with a Flip camera. We also had some Asians in business attire shooting off some pistols and assault rifles having the time of their life.  I probably wouldn’t have thought to suggest that to someone visiting the US or Texas for that matter but it makes sense. If you can’t experience something at home why not try it out on vacation right?  So next time you come to this great state, find a range, rent a lane and a gun, and shoot off some rounds.  I’m testing out the Tommy Gun next time we go.

I am finally home from a fabulous week of vacation.  Really, when you go on vacation is it ever not fabulous?  Mike and I saided the Eastern Caribbean and made stops in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, USVI, and St. Maarten.  Each stop had the clearest water I’ve ever seen and it was warm!  I hate putting my toes into the cold ocean but that was not the case this time around.

Pretty water in St. Thomas

With such clear water you could see your toes and count the sand grains from standing neck deep in the water.  At the same time, you could see who else or what else was joining you in your little swim.  During our visits, I ran into a sting ray, a school of fish, and I think a barracuda.  Unfortunately, the water was too rough for me to get closer to the barracuda and even if I did I think I would have needed some visual help – at minimum a snorkel mask and maybe even a pair of ncstar binoculars – not because they are tiny fish, but because I think I’d need the extra help to see it in the rough waves of St. Maarten.  That and I’d still like to keep my distance. LOL

So this week I’m left looking at my vacation memories and doing a massive amount of unpacking and laundry.  Even though I laid my clothes out on my bed while packing and did my counts, I still over packed in excessive amounts but it was much less than I have done in the past.  In fact, I still had ample room in my carry-on and my checked bag to do some major shopping while we were floating around but unfortunately, the only duty free items I found were jewelry and watches.  Had their been duty free designer clothes I would probably be coming back with an extra suitcase and a nice amount of credit card debt. It’s all for the best.

You know vacation is coming within the next 30-45 days when you see my big, pink DVF rolling city bag come out of the closet as well as my nice purple Atlantic suitcase.  I like to stand apart from the crowd so I made sure my luggage matched my style   Tonight was the night I decided to start packing for Mike and I’s upcoming vacation.  We still have a ways to go until we embark on our next cruise but I like to pack early.  I began with the easy things tonight: sunscreen, hats, first aid kit, general medication, band aids, acne treatment, bug spray, etc. Basically anything that is travel sized and is what you would call “vacation” specific.  By doing all this now, I can try to see what I need to pick up while running errands in the next few weeks.  I even tested out our nifty Rum Runner Flasks.  I have 2 filled with some rum and managed to determine that they will fit inside of my bra so no worries about having them found via the x-ray machines in the checked luggage. LOL

About three weeks ago, I received an email from Carnival Cruise Line. It was in the 40s here in Houston and I was wearing my knee length puffy jacket and working 13 hour days. I have to tell you, this was not exactly an email subject line I wanted to see at the moment. LOL

But it did get me thinking and the next thing I knew, Mike and I were booked for a Cruise heading for the Caribbean where the weather will be in the 70s and 80s. I cannot wait. I have been in serious need for a vacation and it seems like it is going to work out for us. If only I could find a new job to go with this vacation so I can come home to working more normal hours with less stress.

So looking back, I have to say thanks Carnival for reminding me that there are warm destinations out there waiting to be explored. Unfortunately, the ice skating rink won out over the huge pool slide so I’ll be vacationing with Royal Caribbean but one day I might give the slide a whirl.

Yes you read that right. After much talking on here about how much I was in need of a vacation, I talked to Mike and went ahead and booked one. We are heading out in April and will be going to Mexico and Honduras. I am very much looking forward to this cruise but am not sure what to expect with it. I burn so easily I don’t know if I should go for beach trips or try and go on tours and stay out of the sun. Either way I’ll be slattered with sunscreen from head to toe.

Mike is really really wanting to go on a zip line tour. I am super scared of heights but it does sound a little fun. I am wondering if we should look into the best term life insurance quotes and take out a few policies before we start zipping all over the jungles of Mexico. LOL Has anyone done the zip line before? How scary is it really? Will I get over my fears after I zip from the first platform to the second? It sounds like there will be multiple platforms and they will be anywhere from 100 to 800 yards apart.