The Difference Between ChildFree Men and ChildFree Women

The Difference Between ChildFree Men and ChildFree Women

Has anyone but me ever noticed how different friendships are between men and women? 

My husband will tell me about a coworker or friend or cousin, and I ask him the standard questions, Married? Kids? Frequently, my husband will say he doesn't know. WHY? Because it does not come up and it has no bearing on their friendship status.  

When women meet, even if we have no real friendship interest in the other, we will ask the standard questions, Married? Kids?  The answer to those questions determines quite a bit with women. Some insecure married women do not like to be friends with single women.  

When women are friends, it is pretty much accepted that the children will be part of the friendship. Coffee? Wine? Lunch? Movie? Yeap, the kids will be there for all of it. The only way that activities are not including the kids is when they are in school or maybe at a sport or activity. 

For men, they can be friends for years, hang out, do stuff together, spend lots of time together and never even MEET the other guy's kids. Why? 

Why are men given a kid free pass and women are not?  

50th Anniversary Game

The San Diego Padres 50th Anniversary Celebration Game

Saturday, June 29, 2019

The 2019 season for the San Diego Padres is their 50th Anniversary Season. From the "kick off" at Fan Fest in January, it was clear everything this season would be all about honoring the Padres history from the past 50 yrs.

We don't have season tickets. For many reasons. Some reasons being with my husband being active duty, I never know when he will be home. I hate to buy 2 tickets for something and then him not be able to go, so I just typically buy our tickets a week or 2 in advance when I know the schedule. 

For the June 29th game (and a couple others), I bought our special theme game tickets ahead of time. Way ahead of time. The 50th Anniversary game was an All Fan Giveaway of replica jerseys from Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman. For an additional fee, tickets could be upgraded to get a matching hat to go with the jersey. I definitely wanted the jerseys and hats, so I bought our tickets well in advance. As the actual game date got closer, it was clear that I had made a good decision getting our tickets ahead as the game ended up selling out.

Before the game started, the Padres had a special thing with season ticket holder families that had kept tickets the entire 50 years. After that, they had a Padres Parade of retired and former players. It was so good to see some of the older retired Padres players.

After the game was over, the Padres had a special Laser show. There are normally a couple games a year where the Padres do the laser show, and it is always good. 

Carnival Splendor, June 15, 2019

Carnival Splendor,  Long Beach, Mexican Rivera Cruise,  June 15, 2019

Before we even moved to Southern California,  we booked our first Mexican Rivera Cruise out of Long Beach. It was a special Carnival Premiere Casino Cruise. We were on Carnival Miracle in February 2016. Since we took that cruise, in 2017 and 2018 we took the shorter 4 day Catalina and Ensenada Cruise on Carnival Imagination and Carnival Inspiration out of Long Beach. 

We decided since it is now a different ship doing the week long Mexican Rivera Cruise that it would be a great time to cruise it again.  Carnival Splendor is in Long Beach now but eventually it will be moved to Australia. Eventually, Carnival will be going back to San Diego and bringing a brand new ship. That will probably be the next time we do this same itinerary.

Our cruise on Carnival Splendor was our tenth cruise on Carnival. Four of the ten have been Carnival's smaller ships, Carnival Splendor was the youngest Carnival ship that we have been on. We had hoped that since it was only 10 years old that it would be in good condition. Sadly, we were disappointed in the shape of the Splendor. It looked to us that Carnival put off some much needed maintenance and repairs since the ship is doing a massive upgrade and dry dock before it goes to Australia. 

Overall, the cruise was great! We had fun in all three ports and we really had a good time on the ship. Our cabin was in a great spot. We opted for an ocean view cabin this time. We have really enjoyed having the extra room. I think we are both over packers. We bring coordinated outfits for the photo ops each night. We probably took 100 plus pictures and we bought quite a few!

Forever a Party of Two

Forever .... A Party of Two

We will forever be a Party of Two, but not in the way that most will think that I am referring to. True, we will forever be a party of two at home in that we are never going to have children and we do not have an immediate plans for any pets.  Today, I am tackling the fact that it feels like we will forever be a party of two when we dine, travel etc because friends without children are RARE.

The Childfree over age 35 frequently end up being friends with empty nesters or those who have busy, never home teenagers. Trying to be friends with those who have little kids is just impossible. The interests and schedules are just completely different. Its rare that parents can go out on a School Night. When they can or when they do, it is either something really special or they are done and home early enough to not disrupt the regular night schedule. For a childfree couple, we rarely have a "school night".  Both of us have taken a variety of courses, training, conferences, etc at various points in our careers which made us have to study and do homework on a week night, but normally, a week night doesn't have much difference for us. We can go and do what we want.

At various times we have had a varying number of couples or friends around us in various points of their lives. Some were never married, some were empty nesters, some were trying every day, it was just different for each couple. However, since moving to California, a place I considered to be more progressive than my home of Virginia, I was shocked to find the lack of ChildFree people. I figured anywhere I went, outside of the military community obviously, that I would have no problem finding couple who either didn't or were delaying the whole children thing. I have been shocked to realize that even outside of the military community that every where I look, it is still families, families, families. 

We have pretty much decided that we aren't going to bend, and go out of our way to be friends with people with kids. You can't go out on a Wednesday? Nope we are not rescheduling to when the kids don't have a game. Your problem is not my problem. It gets exhausting trying to work schedules around something I did not choose.  Have I accepted being a party of two? Maybe not 100%. I hope that one day, we meet a couple more interracial, married, childfree couples who enjoy traveling and dining out. Will we? I don't really know. One amazing thing in our marriage is we actually get along, and we actually enjoy spending time together. If we never meet any further childfree couples, we will still travel, we will still enjoy life. 

Our life is on our terms. We don't have to work based on someone else's schedule. Our married life is crazy enough being on active duty military. Whether we are surrounded by friends, or just surrounded by our love, our childfree status isn't changing, and our wonderful life is only going to get better.

WOW - World Of Wonder - RIO Hotel - Las Vegas

WOW

World of Wonder

RIO Hotel & Casino

Las Vegas

What is the most constant thing in Las Vegas? Change. As soon as you get the hang of where certain shows, restaurants and clubs are located, something will change. Especially with shows. Shows definitely come and go, they also move from venue to venue frequently.

The show WOW World of Wonder started in 2017 I think, maybe early 2018. From the previews, I knew I definitely wanted to see it. It is currently at the RIO where the Raiding the Rock Vault show used to be. At one point, RIO had Raiding the Rock Vault, X Rocks, a tattoo parlor owned by Counts Customs, and the KISS Rock N Roll mini golf. RIO was sort of going for a Rock n Roll kind of theme. Maybe trying to attract a certain age group or certain crowd. 

Raiding the Rock Vault has moved to the Hard Rock and X Rocks has moved to Bally's. WOW World of Wonder is a thematic, show performed in a sort of half round, multi level stage. The center is water and it changes. The show is not high flying and performing water tricks as some of the other shows. But it is definitely a dramatic, elaborate show. It tells a beautiful story and it is fairly easy to follow.

The story encompasses pirates, mermaids, sea creatures, fantasy, dreams, love and adventure. I would definitely recommend it for all ages. It was not something that was "too advanced" for kids maybe ages 5 and up. It is a fantastical roller coaster ride. There are few shows in Las Vegas that I would pay to see again within 6 months, WOW is definitely one of them. Don't miss it when you are in Vegas.

La Reve - The Dream

La Reve - The Dream

Several years ago, (I think 2014) the season finale of Face Off was held at the Wynn in Las Vegas. The finalists had to create make ups for their final that would be worn in the show La Reve the Dream. Ever since seeing that episode, I was super excited to see the show. La Reve is super popular and sells out every night. It is consistently rated the Best Show in Vegas. Due to its popularity, it is very rare to find any discounts for the show online, or in person, even in the off season. Since moving to California, my husband and I have been visiting Las Vegas frequently, so I knew eventually we would get to see the show. 

My husband was deployed and I got an email offer from the Wynn hotel. It was a package that included 2 nights, 2 buffets, and 2 tickets to La Reve the Dream for about the price of the 2 hotel nights. I got a friend to go with me, and we took Wynn up on their offer. 

The show was every bit of amazing. The theater is in the round, with performers on the stage and in the air. Honestly, there really isn't a bad seat. It is truly a show where there is action every where. We were sitting sort of in the middle and we saw everything without an issue. Those who choose to sit closer to the stage might have an issue.

If you are going to be spending time in Vegas, you definitely need to check out the show. It is an amazing show that takes you through a beautiful journey. The show goes through love, dreams, happiness, challenges and sends the viewers on a roller coaster ride of emotions.

The acrobats and performers are extremely talented. The show takes place in and out of the water, and high in the air. Prepare to be thrilled and see the best show of your life.

CHILD FREE LIFE

I can remember being 12 years old and having the husband and kids discussion with a relative. I said when I was 12 that I did not want to ever get married or have children.
Of course I was told then, I would change my mind, I didn't know what I want, etc. All of the things that childfree people are told on a regular basis.

When I married my ex husband, I knew I did not want children with him. He was too much of a child,and I did not want two children to take care of.
Everyone told me that when I  met the right person, I would want children. I did meet the right person, but I knew that I never wanted to SHARE my husband. I never wanted to be the second string quarterback to a child.  I could not imagine having to share my husband with a child. I am so thankful that we will never have anything or anyone to come between us. The childfree life is the only way for us. 

Carnival Inspiration, February 2018

Carnival Inspiration

February 26, 2018

Long Beach, CA

Catalina Island, CA

Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico

Our second Carnival Premier Getaway, our 3rd cruise out of Long Beach, Our second short Mexico Cruise. 

This was our 9th cruise on Carnival. When we originally started cruising on Carnival in 2015, our plan was to not repeat the Ship, Embarkation port, or Itinerary. So far, we have not cruise on a Carnival Ship twice. We have done the same itinerary twice, and this was our third cruise out of Long Beach.

We board the Carnival Inspiration and then went to Catalina Island the next day. We decided to take a tour around Catalina Island and get to see some sights. It was a great drive to get to view around the Island. When we had been there before we did something else. 

Our next stop was Ensenada Mexico. This was my third time in Ensenada. Our first time we drove there. From where we are in Northern San Diego County county, it takes about 90 minutes with no traffic to get to the border, and then it is about 2 hrs to get to Ensenada after crossing the border.  The second and third time we visited Ensenada we were on a Carnival Ship.

Ensenada is a fun tourist town. The weather is pretty good all year, so there is a ton to do as far as activities. This trip we did a wine country tour. People do not really think of Baja California as being Wine Country, but it is. Due to the wonderful weather, it is a great place for grapes and olives, not just the infamous Agave for tequila. Our wine country tour included a bottle of wine at the first vineyard. The second vineyard had way more than just wine. It had all sorts of oils, spreads and seasonings. It was a great tour even for those who do not drink. 

Reasons to be Childfree