Bermuda, Bahamas, Come on Pretty Mama...

I find myself apologizing often for taking so long to post and I'm going to stop doing that. One of my new mottos for 2010 is "I'll get to it when I get to it." As much as I want to blog, I haven't really found any convenient times. In the past, I would have stayed up way too late creating a post, but now, I'm going to say, "I'll get to it when I get to it." And here I am, blogging on a Saturday night because my immune system got distracted at some point and let down its guard.

Last time I wrote, I was leaving for a cruise with my family. I asked multiple people, multiple times, to go through a packing checklist; I didn't want to forget anything important. One of the items someone reminded me of was a camera. Well, I broke my camera back in October and decided this was the perfect time to buy a new one. I did a little research and found out the Best Buy was advertising a great deal. I got this camera, this case, and a rechargeable battery for about $200. Score. I got to Austin around 10:00 pm the night before the cruise and asked Callie and my parents to go through the packing list one last time, thinking that I could run to the grocery store to get last minute things.

Dad: Pillow?
Me: Check.
Callie: Passport?
Me: ....Passport? No...
Dad: You're kidding!
Me: No... no one told me I needed that!
Dad: Please tell me you're joking.
Me (almost in tears and straight up panicked): NO, I'M NOT JOKING! Do I have to drive back to Dallas?
Dad: Start driving.

Thankfully, the Lord instilled a calm spirit in Callie and she was able to think logically and speak softly. We looked at the rules and regulations online and realized that because we were going on a closed-loop cruise (leaving and returning to the same port), an original birth certificate would be an acceptable document. Phew! My dad happened to have the original at the house and a huge wave of relief swept over us. I wasn't able to find humor in the situation until we reminisced the next morning. The cruise was great! So much fun and laughter I could hardly go one day without almost peeing in my pants. Callie got to see first-hand that the people in my family really are the way I have described them. She realized that the voices I use to impersonate them are definitely exaggerated, yet accurate. Throughout the cruise, I took all of these great pictures, but when I got home I couldn't find the USB cord to transfer them from my camera to my computer. I had my parents looking all over the house and I was looking all through my stuff. Nothing. It wasn't until tonight, when I was looking for the link to my camera online, that I realized the reason no one could find the cord. THE CAMERA DIDN'T COME WITH ONE! So here I've been, waiting to update my blog until I find my cord because I didn't want to have a post without pictures, just to find that I've been looking for something I never had in my possession. Story of my life. I guess this means I need to stop looking and just buy one. Pictures to come...

The laughter continued into the days following the cruise. If you recall, last year was the first annual Bradberry Christmas Dance. It was also where you heard about the pine cone. The traditions continued this year, but we decided to give the dance participants some options. If you weren't up for dancing, you could karaoke instead. Success. Videos to come...

That's all I've got for now. I will get you up to date in my next post.