okay, i'm pissed, and at myself, no one else to blame.

I really shouldn't have looked...

dangit.

I found out that the plane tickets I purchased just a little while ago (since I had the lottery money) went down in price..by roughly $200!!! I bought the tickets nonrefundable, so I'm screwed. I honestly didn't think they would go down, and then to have them go down only two weeks or so after I purchased them! And just think..if I hadn't won that lotto ticket, I would have waited and then bought them cheaper..but that kind of thinking can drive a body simply buggy..

so...

breathe...letting it go..what the hell, the tickets bought, and it means I'm going, and that's the important thing.

Also, on the hotel search, have pretty much decided that if Villa LaCage takes my offer of paying the $40,000J monthly rate for a room with kitchenette there for two weeks, then I will jump on that and take it...

I have been having some small complications with Summerset, so that is looking less and less likely..for some reason I am being treated like they don't realize I'm the same person who stayed there last year for $350, lol! Now of course I don't expect a fantastic deal like that again, but at the same time, when I can see my room being advertised for $38 online and agree to $43 a night with breakfast, that's okay, I would have thought about paying that for the eight nights I was originally going to be there, but when I went up from eight nights to fourteen, my thinking was that is half a month, I should at least be able to pay what I would for staying a month, plus a little extra, so when my dates to be able to stay changed and I sent them off another email with what I thought was a reasonable offer of $500 for the month total but no breakfast, and I got the kind of reply back that you would almost have thought I had insulted her or something, lol! So I sent another one back trying to smooth things over and explaining that it was because of my past stay that I was thinking it was possible to work things out like that since that was what had been done the first time and that I would be there a lot longer when I returned next year, and sat back and waited for her response to that..I don't know, but I think it's funny. Oh well, there are lots of places to stay at in Negril.

Travellers and Hidden Paradise are still in the mix, tied for second place in my considerations. Travellers is at $700, and Hidden Paradise is at $660, but I don't know if that is the total cost or not, there might be additional tax, but with Travellers the price is $700 total, so there is that. If VillaLaCage accepts my offer though, I'll send it to them next month and seal that deal, but if not, am thinking either one of those, if I have to pay more than a set amount, might as well be right on the beach.

and then am still thinking of Xtabi now and then, been seeing it at $45 a night on blurbs but when I click on them it shows a $55 a night price which is weird, but I can always hang out there without having to stay there, so there is that.

Getting ready to mail the $400 to my friend for my half of the Grand Pineapple stay, and then after that, will only have $400 left to pay, since I sent $200 last month.

Then the only other thing really to plan and pay in advance for so I don't have to worry about having to do it when I get down there is the transportation costs and the excursion costs, since I'll be doing one with my friend while she's down. I've sent out an email or two in regards to that, and am waiting to hear back. I'm not sure how the whole excursion thing is going to work out. My friend Lori wants to see and play and swim with dolphins and I told her that I personally oppose the dolphin coves as they are cruel to dolphins and many die in the training process, and even when captured to be sold to dolphin coves and I couldn't support that but if she wanted to go she could and I just wouldn't go on that excursion with her and put my money towards supporting something like that. My money might not make a bit of difference at all to anyone but me, but it does to me, so there it is.

So anyway, I told my friend that there was a tour that does a dolphin search where you can see dolphins in their natural environment, and how would she like to do that, and she said that if she gets to see dolphins then she will be happy, and I asked what else of all the things I had told her about would she like to do and she said great, so now I'm trying to find out the costs and how doable it is and then need to make sure she realizes it's a dolphin 'search' not a staged dolphin event, and that means it's not a 100% thing, but I hope she's okay with that. I know I saw about a dozen or so dolphins on our trip and some of them were jumping right by the boat, and man do I wish I could have jumped over the side, not to go try and touch them or anything, but just to be in the same water with them would be awesome, but watching them jump and piroutte not because they had to but because they WANTED to and were wild and free, well that was to me a once in a lifetime experience, and both my daughters talk about it that way too...

but I don't know what my friend's reaction will be because I realize I really don't know her that well after all these years, all we have are friendly conversations and childhood memories, so I actually don't know what she's like at all. Is she going to like Jamaica, or will she only find and look for her faults? I don't expect her to be as blown away with her as I was, but I am hoping she doesn't get bored or whiny or anything, or it will be a loooong eight days, lolol! One thing I have to admit I am a teeeeny bit concerned about, and that is when she came to visit me during the weekend two years back, she did spend a LOT of time on her cell phone texting I guess and we were at the fair and when she lost the charge we had to go all over the place until she found a place to plug it in and just hung there until it was done, so I can't help but wonder if she will be stuck on her phone in Jamaica too...I hope not, but if that's the case, I always bring a few good books to read, so I'll be set anyways, but hopefully we will spend time walking along the beach, swimming, and stuff like that too!

Just be really careful what you pay "upfront".If am employee leaves...you might be left out in the cold.

Medi- Have you ever looked at Ansell's? Maybe someone on here has first hand info on it? All I know is that I toured it and it was cute(basic) and Ansell was polite. If my memory serves there were grates on the windows and night security. I just thought it might be of interest to you as it is beachfront and so close to town you would not have to pay cab fare. Again- ZERO first hand info from me! It comes up dirt cheap on Hostels(probably the rooms without air?). Maybe he would work with you on long term?? I don't know, just throwing it out there. I found and included Ansell's website.

http://www.ansellsthatchnegril.com/default.htm

Oh now I understand- the Hostels price is also per person- no wonder it seemed so cheap-lol. Maybe still worth contacting Ansell directly??

Medi, I might also suggest that if you get a really good deal somewhere to NOT advertise it on the message boards. My guess is the people at Summerset have had to deal with others wanting the same great deal you got last year. So they could be angry about the publicity of that special rate. So if you get another great rate somewhere this year, I'd suggest keeping it to yourself, or tell people you know in person or in private messages but not here on the internet for all to see.

"And this is my message to you ,ou ou "