Preparing for the cruise

We are less than 2 weeks away from our cruise. Final preparations have started.

This will Natali's 15th flight...so we have the whole flying with a kiddo thing down. What is new is packing for her and us for 8 days.

In the past Kelli and I got by with just a carry on each. We went to Tokyo for a week....with just a carry on each. For the last two cruises we had just a carry on. This time we are going big.

We took a look at a few suitcases last weekend. I know suitcases as I use one for work. I go for function over form. Most of the bags sold in the employee store at the airport are carry on size. I needed bigger.

When I first started flying, my first bag was a Delsey. It was lightweight and very durable. Kelli has been using that bag since. It's awesome.

I found a 29 inch Delsey bag at Kohls. It was "half off" at $140. I think luggage is always half off. Bleh.

Because I am me I had to do better than $140. Turns out Kohls had the lowest price (a few Internet stores had a price close....but they were shady). I signed up a Kohls card and used an Internet only discount code for 30% off. Total price....$97+$8 tax and free shipping. I wish they had store pickup. It should arrive in time.

When we bought our house it came with two ceiling fans. One in the living room and one in the Master bedroom. The rest of the rooms were braced for fans though.

I installed 3 Hunter brand fans. Pain in the ass in one of the rooms due to the vaulted ceiling. Even the regular rooms were annoying. Ugh. I forgot how bad it was.

The fans that came with the house are basic fans. They were white and attracted dust like Austin attracts liberals.

We used some of our tax return money to buy two new fans. I did research (I ALWAYS DO RESEARCH!) and once again found Hunter to be the best. We both like how they are quiet, powerful and are NEVER dusty.

I upsized from the 52 inch fan that came with the house to a 60 inch fan. The extra 8 inches is nice (that's what she said).

Took me about an hour to take the old fan down and put the new one up.  I did have to make a Home Depot run for different mounting screws....just like I did when we bought the house.

The rest of the tax return money went to tires for my Prius and to my pilot loan. It's about half paid off in 5 years. Not too bad.