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 |   Nadanother blog...sheesh, I guess I DO blog. Completed. |
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I've had a rich past, yet am making a new one with plenty of life's experiences to draw from! I invite you to come along and see what trouble I get into. I'll blog about my life, present, past... whatever comes to mind at the time. I'll try not to be too serious most of the time, heck we get enough of that just living. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Happy New Year! For the mirroring blog series we do on Saturdays:
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We had a very full day...and now we set our clocks forward another hour...so if I don’t get some sleep I’ll be in bed at noon!  Tomorrow morning I’ll write a blog filling you in...we’ll be in port...at any rate I wanted to at minimum give you the photo taken Christmas night...the color is very odd, so was the photographer.  You’ll notice Hubby is very tan...and I am...NOT. Sigh. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Have some great people to discuss...but ....sleep is calling...sorry! |
| How I spent my Christmas Day.... You know what? Just when you think you have seen the holiday film, “ELF” enough, you find that it is running back to back on the ship’s movie channel. I wondered how many times is enough to watch Will Farrell dressed up as a ridiculous grown-up elf...so far, the answer stands at about 736 times. Merry Christmas to each and every one of you! So Hubby and I had a wonderful Christmas Eve. A couple, the ones who had been eyeballing us on the formal night,invited us to have drinks and dinner with them, and we said yes. Now you talk about an interesting couple....a ship truly is a casting call of characters right off of any call sheet. Tammy and Peter are semi-newlyweds. He immigrated to the USA from Germany in the 70’s, and became a successful hotelier/real estate magnate. If I mentioned the chain he founded...well, you would say you have heard of it. His German accent is thick, and we figured out he’s in his early 70’s. Quite fit, and loves a good martini. Tammy is probably not 50 yet, and they have been married four years this month. His first wife passed away from cancer. Tammy works. He still works too. Again I introduced them to the wonders of the chef’s tasting menu. I know, I tease you with this tasting menu...here’s what you get: (sample menu, of course) Appetizer of a smoked salmon mousse Salad of pears and bleu cheese Double consume of beef Champagne sorbet Roast goose with potatoes and vegetables Crème brulee Of course wines are included with dinner (or anything else you want to drink, which is for me, a beer....hey, what can I say, I’m a creature if habit.) Anyhow, we had a lovely night. This morning (Christmas) we didn’t wake up until after NINE...I swear, the gentle motion of the ship is so conducive to sleeping. Of course we had set the clock forward an hour a few nights ago, so it is was really only 8:30. For some reason we can’t seem to get it together to get out of our room until about eleven. I suppose it’s partially because we have our morning coffee delivered to our room. At home we have coffee in our room, so it really isn’t that different, except it tastes better than the coffee I make. We get up to the pool and talk to some people, and then it’s lunch time. Dang the salt air sure makes me hungry. It seems like every day they are having a barbeque.....seafood, chicken, steaks. Groan. I have been eating grilled seafood and a green salad, I suppose a small concession to the vast quantity of food I consume each night. Today was the added attraction of an ice carving demonstration! Nothing like it being 85º with 75% and a guy with a huge block of ice and a chain saw.... ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I have no idea what he ended up with, looked like two fish in an aquarium...but it wasn’t....hmmm. After our lunch (in the shade, listening to a terrific band) I went down to our room where I sit on the shady balcony and read my book. I’ve chosen to read an autobiography of Christopher Lawford, “Symptoms of Withdrawl”. I suppose it is interesting to me because I met Christopher years ago, as well as having been invited to the Kennedy compound by his cousin, David Kennedy, a few days later during the 1976 Democratic Convention in NYC. But, that is a story for another day. I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas! Oh, did I tell you what I got for Christmas? I didn’t....well....a pair of tweezers! Hey, I forgot to bring them so it’s a good thing! I got an opportunity to read the Blogville Newsletter today, and I must say, I was impressed with all of the wonderful stories and the superb editing by our own Scarlett   . This may be the largest edition yet...incredible and such a wonderful thing to sit and read during my cruise. Thank you all for keeping me entertained!I need to get to sleep now...it’s late.... |
| Christmas Eve, 2007~ We have arrived at our first port, Cabo San Lucas. It is absolutely gorgeous out. Of course Hubby is out working on his tan, and I spent a couple of hours up on deck, reading and talking to some lovely people. I suppose I’m always going to be a day behind on filling you in on what’s happening...but oh well, the good stuff (at least for me) happens at night. Being allergic to the sun is not conducive to me socializing with the sun worshippers up top. But hey, it’s okay with me, gives me a chance to blog and read...all from the comfort of our room. An interesting thing we discovered is that we will not be confined to getting a handicapped room in the future. We feel confident that Hubby can get over the threshold of the “normal” shower, thus we shall be afforded a walk-in closet and other amenities, for some reason, they figure a handicapped room doesn’t need. Go figure. Okay, so last night we went to the cocktail lounge, scoped the tables and chose one that held up to eight people. We figured if it got crowded we could ask people to join us. For some reason people seem to be socially shy to ask to join another twosome. Well....it became apparent that people looked at us...but nobody asked us to join them, so I told hubby to go ask a couple at the very next table if they would like to join us. Ever so gregarious he did and they did. That is how we got to know Charlotte and Richard from Norman, Oklahoma. He owned a Ford dealership and she was a clerk for a judge. (When they were working, which they are not anymore.) This is a second marriage for each of them, but one that has lasted 25 + years. Between them they have four children and three grandchildren. They enjoy wine and are dog people. Richard observed there is something about “dog people”. (Interestingly enough the couple the night before train dogs for handicapped people....but it was the quiet man, not the loudmouthed wife.) We found we had several things in common, and I quite look forward to seeing them again. I introduced them to the Chef’s tasting menu, another six courses down my hatch, lol. As I look outside, I see that the sister ship, the Symphony, to the one we’ll be taking (The Serenity) in Miami is here. Onboard the Crystal Symphony is the Captain we know. Oh, have I mentioned that the same Captain as was on board last year is here, Captain Romeo! Nice to see him again. I forgot to have Hubby take a photo last night, but I’ll try not to forget tonight. It was a casual night, just like tonight is. Boy, did I pull a stupid move last night after my shower; I decided to do a spray on tan, so today I wouldn’t be so whale’s-belly-white around the pool. BIG mistake. Actually the mistake was in using something I am not familiar with. It is a fine mist, but has no color immediately. Soooo, this morning I wake up and pull the drapes back and look down at my tan legs....well, partially tanned....great gaps of white blotches where I missed the spray. GAWD, I was mortified. I’ve nearly scrubbed my skin off trying to correct it, with only limited success. I think Nada will be wearing slacks until I can slough the dyed skin off. My gawd, this has never happened to me before. I must be getting senile. We had lunch with a couple from North London today....well, I sort of did...you see our table was in the sun, and after I got a plate from the on deck barbeque for Hubby and I...well, let’s just say I had to go eat by myself in the shade. Heck, that was pretty sad, except the band was playing some great music by the Beatle and Queen. I hope I get an opportunity to get to know them another day. It sucks not being able to enjoy the sun, but hey I do get time to blog and read. Now ya’ll be sure to have a great Christmas Eve! I’m thinking of all of you....and you have each given me a great gift, the gift of your friendship. Thank you! See you tomorrow! |
| Waving Hi from San Diego! Day one and it’s bright and sunny, mid-seventies in San Diego. Our ship arrived here this morning. (Coincidentally right next to the Crystal ship we’ll be taking back from Florida, lol.) I’m not going to go into the nightmare traffic we encountered, nor the fact that it was midnight before I got us unpacked and into bed last night.  I will tell you that when we left to have dinner I still did not have my hanging bag with all of my gowns etc. Natch... Hubby’s things were all there.Quite a few Brits onboard. I think it may have something to do with the lousy weather and the fact that the pound is worth twice what the dollar is, making this a bargain cruise. At any rate, I know they will be getting their lily white bodies sunburned and bronzed soon. Right now, many of them seem to be gathered around the pool bar though. Of course I see a “nanny”, who I noticed was accompanying a family with five children, jogging the eleven laps around the deck ...which constitutes a mile. Gulp. Though I do have wireless internet, I’ve noticed it drops pages I’m trying to get posted, so after many tried both last night and this morning, I finally got a photo of us in...from the first formal night. It may be I have to do my photo uploads from the internet café...we shall see. Last night as we spoke to the maitre d of the main dining room, the couple behind us told him they would eat at the table with us. Well, not to be rude we said why not, so it came to be that we met Barbara and Buddy. He was in a suit with a photo of a eagle on his tie, and she was the loudest speaking woman (a retired lawyer) on the ship.  Hey, they were nice people, but people four tables away could hear her every word! Turns out they live in Chesapeake Maryland. Of course they had the crab cakes, only to proclaim them as horrible.For the second night I had the chef’s tasting menu, and for the second night I ate everything on my plate! (Six courses.) Didn’t have lunch though. We had the mandatory fire drill instead. Today we are at sea....so have a lot of “nothing” planned...a nap, some reading, and maybe a ballroom dancing lesson....or a yoga lesson. Until next time...have a great day!Here we are last night: ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| There is only so much a gal can do. I'm down to about another 45 min. and we'll be ready to leave...(I don't mean drive to the port of San Pedro. I mean to sleep for the last night night in our own bed.) This time tomorrow we will be laying on our bed... in in our suite. Sigh. We'll have the gentle (or rough) roll from side to side, the same liquid arms which once rocked our souls before we knew we existed. The balcony door opened completely, the better to smell the salty mist as the ship slices through the swells and waves. The sound of the ocean, the wves rippling away from the ship as we move away from home. We'll feel the tropical night air.....oh wait, we'll not actually be in the tropics tomorrow, but I assure you that for 26 days will be. Yeah I know, just rub it in. I prefer to think of it as my gift to you...just when when you need a break from the maddening crowds, the franetic pace of these few weeks. Think of it as your "Calgon Moments". I may be confined to a ship of fools, or brilliant sportsmen....oh wait, silly me. Did I mention..."S-h-h-h-h Nada, don't want to spoil the future blog". I'm lousy at keeping secrets. Of course it's now Friday on WDC time...so I'm once again confused. Oh well, I might as well get used to it, I have six one hour time changes to go through in the next 20 days. Wahoo. Can you tell I'm excited about that? I know..."SO LEAVE ALREADY!" I feel the same way. Next time you hear from me I'll be relaxed, I promise. Bon Voyage.......Nada fades to a wave.... |
| Sheesh, a girl just can't blog mid-evening on the West coast. It's 9:45 pm but in WDC's world it's early tomorrow morning. So much for my good intentions. I've had time to read about six blogs. Do you have any idea how crappy that makes me feel? Tis the season to be giving, and here I am being swamped by selfish preparations to get out of town. I really do want to talk about something else besides packing, running last minute errands etc., but I just can't. I'm obsessing because I have to do it for both of us, and make sure my house and dogs and help and son are all briefed on what to do. Oh, and did I mention it's been raining all week? Gawd. We need the rain, but...these storms are wreaking havoc with our cruise. What on earth am I talking about? Well, the travel agent called me, it seems our ship is on its way to LA from Tahaiti, and was about three to four days out when the East winds were blowing so much it has slowed the ship down. So, instead of us boarding around one or two Friday afternoon, it';s been delayed long enough to...(how weird, I typed the word enough and the "U" key flew off of the keyboard! I got it back on...whew)...anyway, we are now going to have to wait until 7:30 PM to board. Gawd, and when do we get to have dinner and unpack? Don't they know I have the whole procedure down to science so that my "vacation" begins when I have unpacked? See, it's not good for hubby to have the floor space taken up by suitcases....the ripple effect has begun!Oh well, no need to stress about it. The good news is both of my suitcases are packed. One of Hubby's left to go, but he still has a few things to pull out....he's taking six sportcoats, two suits and three tuxes. I won't even begin to get into how many shirts..... OOPS---ladies, I've spent the morning in the company of ......(be still my heart) JoPaulo. Uh, he really did a number on me. Ahem...I did not drool too much....but...but... when he straddled my legs...GULP....it was very difficult to concentrate. So, I'm now a BRUNETTE. I guess I could have surprised ya'll when I posted some cruise pics...but I didn't want you to think my evil twin had hijacked my blog. Hubby will be sleeping with a new Nada. Dang, this probably wasn't the best time to do it...his heart is beating fast enough. Okay, there's much more happening, but I'm pooped and need to catch some shut eye...another big day tomorrow.   Thank you for the cards, the new Sig, and the video. Your notes and sentiments are barely acknowledged and I feel blessed, thank you. I hope you all know I appreciate your time and comments too...I hope to get the chance to do more than thank you in this blog. Love you.Have a good day! |
| Yep, you heard me right. I have packed one of my two suitcases and one of hubby's. I think he is going to need three. How can this be? Since when did he need more than me? I've discovered menswear, especially velvet smoking jackets and sports coats take up a huge amount of hanging space. Of course it doesn't hurt that hubby could be on some best dressed list. He loves getting dressed up. Normally I adore this, but when you are trying to pack for two a four week vacation for two...well, at least this year I'm not waiting until the night before. What has changed this year? I mean, I'm just not caring so much about my clothes. That's weird. Okay, I do care, but so much of my usual standby cruise clothing is not fitting. That's weird. It's quite the adjustment for me. I mean I'm trying to find stuff in my closet without buying a bunch of clothing. That's weird. I failed...so today I was combing the sale rack of not sold summer clothing. Gawd, I found some wonderful navy shorts for less than $10. So you want to hear something else? Stop reading if you don't, lol. Last year's three week cruise and I had something like twenty pairs of shoes. I think right now the count is twelve or fourteen. Hey, it is late here. I'm too lazy to get up and go count again. You know I'll mention the count sometime in the next week. I'm taking ONE bathing suit. If it's like last year, it'll never be put on. Sun is my enemy.Okay, too much information here. You guys don't care about my packing woes and wardrobe malfunctions....yet. You guys are visual, you want photos...in due time...I have a haircut and color, a manicure and pedicure, jewelry to pick through and a makeup bag of secrets to do. Then there is taking Frasier in for a blood test and refills of his medicines, both of them to the groomers, and this is turning out to be a "To Do" list...not a blog. I have to say I thought Carolina Blue  did an outstanding job of imitating me, Tor and Scarlett in his blog....I thought I had blogged! Thanks to alfred booth, wanbli ska for his port raid, he helped me remember I have one. Again, I tried to make some rounds tonight, but I know I missed many of you.  If you are one of the ones I didn't get to...I will before Christmas...probably from the deck of the Mariner.  Don't ya'll overdo it! This is a No Flu Zone...I can't be sick on my vacation and I don't want you sick either! And that means YOU and YOU...and.. |
| Good grief, this is one sparse month for blogging for many of us. What's worse is there are days I have to choose, blog or read blogs. Of course I am blue from the cold, but that's a different story. I need to explain my method. Uh, maybe I don't, it's my dang blog afterall. I do know this, that I've become a crazed woman this week. There are a few things that have bugged me to no end this week, and I'm sure you could all cite a few, but this is my rant. I was only going to buy one gown this year. I spent an entire afternoon trying them on, and trust me, the same guy who sold me four of them two years ago was there this year. "I know exactly what you like." he says. I doubt it. He is a cheesy guy who I suspect gets some kind of jollies from fitting us. Groan. Hey, they were lovely gowns, it's just that they don't fit now. I've gained a few pounds. Well, it's more like the "old age settling" that we women notice...a not so subtle sinking of our assets. I finally settled on a lovely purple one, "I want simple, and I want to be able to wear it and eat dinner!" being my only requirements. Of course they are always too big, so they alter it to fit. I went back Wednesday to try it on and check the alterations. Big surprise, the dress would not zip up! I swear they altered it to fit someone else, even though he had pinned it on me. I felt like Goldilocks, first it was too big, then it was too small. They said, "No problem. Come back Thursday, we'll fix it by then." Did I mention while I was waiting for them to bring it up I heard one of the young gals who works there talking on her phone...."well I had to park the Mazerratti on the street today, and I'm so nervous about it." This 18 year old was driving a Mazerratti? OMG. This little job pays her enough to have a Mazerratti? My gawd. I went back Thursday. You guessed it, it still did not fit. Either I had gained weight in less than 24 hours or I was in the Twilight Zone of evening gowns. Once again they told me, "No problem. If you'd like to wait we'll have it done in twenty minutes." I tried to process how they could rip out seams and sequins, then let it out and still be gorgeous in twenty minutes. "I'll come back Friday, no rush." I went back today. I'll just say this..... I'm wearing a black and white gown instead. Gawd. |
| We haven’t done the Christmas thing around my house for nearly a decade. No, it’s not because we’ve been jerking Santa around with all the moving. That doesn’t mean we have become Bah Humbug about it at all. I spent many years before decorating my house from head to toe, red and green and gold swags, and a lighted village with every dang accessory they make. I had over 100 little houses, a traffic nightmare winding over the five snowy, cobblestone streets, the village tree, a mountain backdrop, houses lit from inside as well as house and yard lights. Yep, it was Nada overkill at it’s best. If you were one of the “little” people who were fortunate enough to reside in the village from the weekend prior to Thanksgiving until about January third, you could at any time: Go to the chocolate shop, get a haircut, get a martini, buy a toy, stroll through antique stores, or milliners, visit the bakery, see a movie, ice skate, sing with carolers, pick out a Christmas tree and strap it on the back of a pickup truck, or ooh and ahhh over the cities lighted, moving light displays. You could pick to go to one of five churches on Christmas eve, cross over a bridge, past the water tank and visit the Nada family...heck, you may have even seen Nada herself pushing hubby in his wheelchair down one of the main streets. Yep, her dogs were there too, frolicking near the toboggans full of children. But, I got tired of the three day planning and execution of the city village, and the dread of taking it all down. One year I left it up until Easter, that was sad. The turning point for me was our first Holiday cruise, Dec. 1999. We got some brochure from a cruiseline advertising a mini-suite room for their roundtrip “Hawaii Christmas Millennium Cruise”... for halfprice! It seems people were afraid they’d be out in the ocean when the Millennium New Year’s Eve kicked in and the entire computer systems would go down and the world would end... or some such nonsense. Hubby and I had nothing special planned, and we couldn’t believe the price. So we decided to do it. We’d been taking our vacations to Hawaii in January anyway, and now this would be all inclusive, transportation, accommodation, food, and parties. Best of all, no Christmas shopping, no dragging out the decorations, no guilt for not going to everyone’s holiday parties....it was in essence, perfect. It was perfect. And because of such a wonderful experience, we have done it every year since. This year we made our reservations as soon as we returned from the last, as the handicap rooms go fast, usually they only have 2-4 on the smaller ships we like. I got a Christmas card from the people we used to spend the Christmas Holidays with (I think you long time bloggers will remember my Christmas adventure with Delphine, the duck, and the Keats). This is just the second year, since the first holiday of cruising, we’ll be without them. She is not doing too well. In a way I miss them and their odd quirks. I guess it is the time of year you do miss family, even pains in the butts. A little tribute to Mrs. K and Delphine from our last cruise with them two years ago: ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| I don’t know where the time is going, but unfortunately my blog seems to be suffering from it. Ok, let’s see what I can catch you all up on. Dinner with Mike’s friend was fine, but probably pretty weird to her. I’ll explain. For any of you who happen to think it would be interesting/glamorous to have dinner with Nada and Hubby; you know...in the dining room being served a meal by Cesar...don’t imagine it happening on the coldest night of the year. We have no heat here, except in our bedroom. The ranch is very...um-m.... rustic. So, though we had a fire in the fireplace, the fireplace is enormous and double sided. It is virtually impossible to feel any warmth from our nine-foot-long dining table. Anyway, we were having a casual dinner, Mexican food, since it was on the schedule for Thursdays, but Hubby was gone. The weathermen were not kidding when they said it would be cold...about 40º by the time we went in. That meant inside the house was oh...41º. Hubby and I do know how to dress though; pajamas underneath sweat pants and sweat shirt capped off by cashmere robes. Black for Hubby, red for me. So we “marshmallows” went in to meet D. Poor thing, gets to have dinner with us when you can “see your own breath” while dining. I bet Eskimos are warmer in an igloo. The food was good, casual to go with the “casual” attire. Thank goodness Mike had explained to her about the ranch, so her jaw didn’t drop open when we showed up dressed like that. I hope she didn’t think we ordinarily ate in formal attire...since I was talking about having spent hours trying on all my gowns, the night before. Since I try to respect the people who drop into Nada and Hubby’s private world, I’ll not go into any details about the night, except to say she is smart, funny, and non-judgemental. It was a fun evening and I don’t think we embarrassed ourselves too much. But we ate quickly as the food kept getting cold. We just got our travel documents...the one that tells us how many formal, informal and country casual nights we’ll have. This supposedly will tell us how to pack. Gawd...remember this cruise encompasses two ships, each with their own ideas of dress codes. Hubby asked me, “What are you going to wear the first day.” “Jeans I suppose.” “Re-e-a-l-l-y? You know you only get one chance to make a first impression.” OMG....now I have to plan an outfit to embark the ship? I suppose he is oblivious it is also that day I will be unpacking all four or five suitcases, rushing around trying to get everything in a place we will remember...all before the mandatory fire drill before the ship pulls out. “Uhhhh, okay, I’ll try to pit something together that will be stylish and presentable.” I can see this trip is going to be fun...a mere six formal nights (down one from the expected seven), six informal nights, and eighteen country club casual. Wahoo....think I am liking the idea of less formality these days, not that it means we will adhere to that, too many cute clothes, too little time. Speaking of clothes...here’s a photo of the gowns that still fit...I’m trying to narrow it down to three plus a spare (being slightly larger for the inevitable salt water shrinkage  .)** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I hope you all are feeling well, and not too stressed...remember it is not good for your health to be stressed. |
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