Weekly WI: It's My Birthday!

 We’ve got allllll sorts of birthday fun going around!  Today I turn 45.

I’ve still been footloose and fancy free all month and the scale has been deadlocked on the same number for three weeks.  

I suspect this week will show a gain *gulp.  I keep assuring myself that November 1, I am BACK ON TRACK with NO EXCEPTIONS except the last of the few birthday meals.  Which, we can spread those out and manage it better.  Birthday Overload for sure this month but boy am I having fun.

When we went to Witches Night Out at the Village and redeemed my free dessert at Yard House, on a whim, I joined the Oktoberfest Mug Club.  I am now the proud owner of a new 1 liter beer mug and the chance to get one $5 fill a day through October 27.  Let me tell you, I didn’t need these extra calories but boy do I love drinking beer from my 1L mug.  I think I better take a break in November from drinking.

My dentist (also Kenyon’s cousin-in-law) gave me some birthday love.

As did Meltz Xtreme Grilled Cheese where we visited their new location in the Chow Public Market.

My very sweet Tuesday WW group gave me flowers and my brother made the cute witch gnome filled with peanuts and candy corn.  I don’t like candy corn but that combo is epic!  

I have LOTS on my birthday calendar this weekend including a massage, lunch, dinner at the Elks with a BSU tailgate party, pizza party with the family, and more birthday freebies on Sunday plus watching the Bears Game while I collect my last $5 beer!  

Norway Part 1: Southampton and Life Aboard P&O Britannia

Hello!  I am so excited to share our Norway adventures with you.  First up, our pre-cruise Southampton adventures along with P&O Britannia and our sea days aboard this ship.

 

The flight to London Heathrow felt long this go round.  The bus ride to Southampton felt even longer with added traffic delays.  We were tired and hungry when we arrived and opted to stay close to the hotel with dinner our first night at Dancing Man Brewing.  It was delicious and for sure a great stop for a return visit.

 

Our second day was a full day which started with a visit to the Solent Sky Museum.

 

We walked around Southampton stopping into White Star Tavern for a pint and a bite of lunch at Pig in the Wall.  WOW!  The food was delicious, and I loved the flavor of the sausage roll.

 

With time to kill and the IKEA nearby, we camped out at the window to watch the Regal Princess, our ship for our December cruise, sail away before wandering (i.e. getting lost) in IKEA.  We had dinner was at another amazing restaurant Duke of Wellington with traditional British dishes and enjoyed a pint at The Titanic before returning to the hotel.

 

P&O Britannia is a very traditional ship.  From the food to the dress code restrictions, the Brits love a certain style of cruising.  While we had fun, we won’t be cruising them again unless there is another specific reason.

 

P&O Britannia Sea Days: When we booked this Norwegian Fjords cruise so we could set sail with The Cruise Monkeys, watch them on YouTube you’ll love them, I had no idea they would be so down-to-earth and so wonderful!  Gavin & Luke were the BEST hosts and checked in asking often if we were enjoying ourselves.  We also met Cruise Buoys, Tristin & Justin and their adorable son Josh.

 

The Cruise Monkeys

The Cruise Buoys

Our group of about 50 was also amazing and really great to visit with. We had several planned gatherings which allowed us to visit with lots of different people in small groups.  For “posh night” knowing we weren’t packing ball gowns, extra shoes, and a tuxedo in our carry-on only luggage, this was as fancy as we got.

The night ended with a silent disco in the atrium, which seemed like an odd place for this type of event, but it worked!  Seeing all these fancy people dancing was amazing.  I wish all cruise lines had a silent disco on the itinerary.  The cruise had a second silent disco on our final sea day which was just as fun.

 

I’ll be back with more of our Norway adventures.

Weekly WI: My Busiest Month

October is my busiest month!  It is also my most challenging month for weight loss.  Similar to 2023, when I vacation in September then roll into October, the pounds tend to pack on.  This is definitely something to get ahead of in 2025.  For now, we just tackle it one pound at a time.

What have I been up to?

After October travel plans shifted, I’ve actually had the last few weekends off.  Besides the enjoyable time spent with The Hubs, family, my Elks family, and friends, I decided I could get used to retirement life!

I celebrated It’s Your Day at Flying Pie where I got my first Birthday Month freebie, a pizza.

I met Michael, Sierra, and Mike at Brown Beard Brewing Co.’s new location in Garden City for their kick off pirate party.  We had a great time with several Boise Beer Buddy members.

The Nampa Elks Lodge hosted their first annual Oktoberfest party.  We also attended a BSU Tailgate Party.

I made a quick trip to Spokane to celebrate Dawny’s 50th Birthday.  We stayed at the Northern Qwest Casino where we saw comedian Vicki Barbolak.  She was hilarious!  We ended up on stage when she called up the October birthday babies.  It was a great couple of days.

We visited the Golden Gem Mercantile for coffee flights.  Thank lost money at the Coeur d’ Alene Casino.  

Plans to visit a brewery didn’t pan out so we ordered a pizza to go and swung by the Coeur d’ Alene Elks for a pint and a visit.

Day 2 was spent in the spa area, eating Italian food, gambling and visiting with one of Dawny’s coworkers.  We packed in a lot during out 48-hours.

I ended the last couple of weeks volunteering at Hoptoberfest, a beer festival put on by Boise Brewing Company.  I just love volunteering at beer festivals.  

There is so much more on the calendar including lunch with friends, several more freebie meals to collect, Witches Night Out with Wanda and Michael, Truck or Treat with ISP, and another mini-staycation after more cancelled travel plans.