Daddy's Roses

Loitering with Intent by Stuart Woods

2009-07-07T20:19:00.000-04:00

My

reviewrating: 3 of 5 stars
Stuart Woods continues to have a very readable writing style. In each new book, however, the clever, flippant, catchy dialog has become even more clever, flippant, and catchy. His sex scenes have become cruder with each new book published as well. Neither of these developments are improvements.

View all my reviews.

Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King

2009-07-03T08:29:00.003-04:00

The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King

rating: 4 of 5 stars

The strength of this book is in the character development. There is negligible plot; and a number of dead-end avenues open up many possibilities but little resolution. Fifty pages into the book I started to skim-read in preparation for abandoning the book. However, a couple of the characters had begun to intrigue me, and I continued to read to see what would happen in their lives. By the end of the book, I had become so involved with the SSGs that I finished the reading and regretfully closed the book leaving these new friends behind.

View all my reviews.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

2009-06-27T15:16:00.001-04:00

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

My review

rating: 1 of 5 stars
I tried hard to find this book interesting -- after all it WAS a bestseller! I trudged on for a couple of days, finally skip-read highlights every few pages, then gave up and put it in the bag to take back to the used book store. The style was just very tedius, too much detail, too much description, too much angst, too much.... Not enough action, not enough interesting characters, not enough story....

View all my reviews.

Fathers Day 2009

2009-06-20T11:10:00.001-04:00

This Fathers Day I am especially thankful for:

1. My father. I do not take for granted the wonderful life-boost I received just because I was born of such a loving, responsible, respected and respectable, fun-loving, family-committed, Christian man.2. My childrens' father. A mother loves her children and tries to bring them up to be resourceful, responsible, content and contributing members of society, but it is not easily a one-person job. The success of the effort is doubled and certainly made more enjoyable by the support of a firmly-committed partner. I have had such a partner.

3. My grandchildrens' fathers. I am blessed with an outstanding son who learned his fathering skills at the feet of the masters, his father and grandfather. I am blessed with a son-in-law whose family-centered lifestyle was taught by loving Christian parents. These two outstanding young Christian fathers are passing along strong Christian values and raising 6 of our future world leaders.

4. The fathers of my nieces and nephews. Thank you Gil, Terry, Ron, Gregg, Chuck, and David! What a roll-call of virtues that list presents! These six men are at least half responsible for the outstanding generation of twenty-somethings (and some amazing thirty- and forty-somethings) in our family!

5. The fathers of my grandnieces and grandnephews. Gil Jr, Jack, Steven, and Josh - thanks to you another generation continues to develop. As your job continues, I hope, and pray, that you will find inspiration and guidance from the fathers who have gone before you - many of the greatest of whom are mentioned above! Those wonderful children you have sired deserve the very best efforts you can make to pass along life values that will help them be secure and successful.

6..... Lots of other fathers who have been the kind of men who can be admired and emulated. I think of .....several coaches who have showed children in our family the importance of practice and teamwork....several pastors and church youth directors who have helped guide young people to develop into moral citizens with unshakable principles....neighbors whose example have inspired children to be their best....cousins, fathers-of-friends, uncles.......

Our family has been blessed with more than its share of good, strong, Christian examples of masculinity!!

__._,_.___

Looking for Love

2009-03-31T18:37:00.006-04:00

My reading during the past month seems to have revolved around a central theme. This was not planned. When I go to the used book store, I buy books that I know have been bestsellers or books by authors that I know to be good – or books that just look interesting. My last trip to the bookstore just happened to result in these selections – among others:

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, a bestseller in 2000
The Shack by Wm Paul Young, a bestseller in 2007
Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos, published in 2005
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards, a best seller in 2005
Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult, published in 1995
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, a Best seller in 04

All of these books have appealed to a large audience, in part I believe, because people identify so strongly with the human need for love and affirmation. Of course, the search for love is a common thread in all forms of literature; but it is an especially-strong thread running through each of these recently-read books.

The Secret Life of Bees was a very strange book that held my attention most of the time (but, in my opinion, would have been improved by shortening its length by half.) The effectively-drawn characters and storyline drew a poignant picture of children’s indisputable yearning for the guidance and love of a parent. The reader comes away feeling warmed by the knowledge that family is built by loving actions rather than just heredity and physical relationship. The role of “Mother” in a child’s life is shown to be vital to development, happiness, and productive adulthood. Regardless of the reader’s feelings about his/her own mother, that message revives childhood memories and thoughts about one’s own development into adulthood.

The Shack was also a very unusual book about love. In its unusual context, it clearly illustrated the universal human search for the love and acceptance of God. Readers relate to this author’s portrayal of a character who wants to know and enjoy the love of God even though that love has often been misrepresented to him through society and tradition. Knowing God and basking in his love comes from relationship. The reader comes to see that God’s love is not found in following religious traditions but in being in relationship with God throughout life.

Love Walked In – a simple love story in many ways – also gained its readership because of its multi-faceted approach to the portrayal of the ‘search for love’. While one of the viewpoint characters searches for and finds romantic and creative love, she also, at the same time, finds parental and familial love. As her life intertwines with that of the other viewpoint character, a child who feels deprived of nurturing, each finds fulfillment as she provides for the needs of the other. One of the big attractions of this book for readers is the message that true and unselfish friendship is usually the seed from which other forms of love grow.

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards was a best seller in 2005. Recovery from rejection, the long-term consequences of building a life on lies, and other issues related to feeling unloved and misunderstood in life’s significant relationships – readers identify with characters who are dealing with these issues.

Both of Jodi Picoult’s books that I have read this month deal with the search for love too. The plots of Picture Perfect and My Sister's Keeper revolve around controversial societal issues, but the theme of both is that every individual has an inborn need to be affirmed and loved for his/her individual personality. Characters who seemingly have every reason to be happy with their lives are willing to sacrifice their very way of life in order to ascertain for themselves that their “significant others” truly love them in spite of and because of their particular strengths and weaknesses. The need for affirmation and love is the driving force in their lives – as it is in the lives of the readers who have made these books bestsellers.

Happy People

2009-03-28T06:00:00.001-04:00

We all claim to want to be happy; but some folks seem to work hard at being unhappy. I recently read a book on the secrets of happy people. This particular hint made sense to me:

Don't accept television's picture of the world.

Aint it the truth!? Judging from what one sees on the screen, a viewer would come to the conclusion that everybody in the world is very wealthy. Society as a whole is now living in frustration because people believe that they are being denied the almost universal wealth that seems to be the domain of everybody else. Much of the unhappiness that we see around us is the result of people not being able to separate what they see on TV from what they know to be real. Happy people base expectations on reality, not on the fiction presented on TV. According to Social Indicators Research ("Separating People's Satisfaction with Life and Public Perceptions of the Quality of Life in the Environment" by Jeffres and Dobbs in 1995)

"Television changes our view of the world and can encourage us to develop highly unrealistic and often damaging conclusiions that serve to reduce our life satisfaction by up to 50%."

Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos

2009-03-27T10:28:00.000-04:00

I sincerely hope that Marisa de Los Santos is not a "one hit wonder" of an author. Love Walked In was her first novel, published in 2005. It is a heart-warming love story - about not only romantic love, but also about family love and the love between friends. It is almost a fairy tale. But what made the book appeal to me so strongly, in addition to the storyline, is the use of language. De Los Santos is a masterful user of the language.

Here are some examples:

"...but I took that word 'boyfriend', folded it right up and tucked it in my back pocket to think about another time."

"...remember awhile ago when I said...? Backspace. Delete."

"I made my way over to him, wading through the swamp of shame I'd created and into the murky depths of which I deserved to be sucked down and forever lost, and I took his hand and begged for forgiveness as I had never begged before."

The Shack by William Paul Young

2009-03-27T06:00:00.002-04:00

If you are a thinker....If you care about relationships.....If you are seeking happiness and fulfillment.....If you have questions about eternity, God, and spiritual matters.....If you were raised in the church.....if you consider yourself an agnostic.....If you struggle to know "how to live".....you will be glad you read The Shack by William Paul Young.

The Shack is a novel, but it is not like any other novel I have ever read. I started reading it after 9:00 last evening and barely put it down until I finished it and went to bed about 2:00 AM this morning. It is that absorbing.

I was 50 pages into the reading when I realized that I was being challenged to consider what it really means to know God. I was thinking about familiar spiritual concepts in new ways. All this thinking and analyzing was going on while I was also engrossed in the PLOT and the mystery of the storyline. At times I raced through pages to find out what would happen next, and at other times I had to slow down and reread paragraphs to allow myself to fully rethink a spiritual and/or relational concept.

So much of present-day literature is predicable, written-to-formula storyline; but Young has a unique plot, unique characters, and a command of the English language that enables him to present his story and his backstory clearly and interestingly. The result is a book that has the reader laughing one minute, gasping the next, and then stopping to ponder what he/she has just read.

I won't forget this book.

I Weigh the Options - Read? or Write?

2009-03-26T21:56:00.003-04:00

I have done a lot of reading since I stopped writing. It seems that I choose between the two activities.

My reading log for 2009 shows 51 books read so far this year. Of course that does not account for magazines, newsletters, Bible chapters, email, or news articles. It also does not include a new book that I read several times in pieces while editing for the author. This book, by my sister, Janice Crouse, will be out in a couple of months – it went to the publisher just last week. I am not sure what the final decision was in regard to the title of the book.

Anyway, I have recently read a lot of insignificant but entertaining novels by some of my long-time favorite writers: Mary Kay Andrews, Jeffrey Archer, David Baldacci, Mary Higgins Clark, Harlan Coben, Janet Evanovich, Jonathan Kellerman, Robert B. Parker, Beverley Lewis, and Stuart Woods.

In addition, I’ve discovered a couple of new favorites: I discovered why Jodi Picoult has had several best-sellers in recent years, and have been entertained by the light fiction of Elizabeth Noble. I lucked up on Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos. I sure would like to read more work by this very talented writer. And I just finished the most exciting book I have read in several years The Shack, which was a bestseller in 2007 for the author, William Paul Young.

Just Checking....

2009-03-09T08:12:00.001-04:00

Has anybody stumbled onto this site in the last 4 months? Just wondering!

February 8, 2009 - Cruise Summary

2009-02-08T21:28:00.000-05:00

Things to remember next time:

Book two cruises back-to-back to save flight costs.
Get stateroom at midship and on PORT side.
Bring binoculars
Bring baseball cap to wear instead of, or in addition to, sun hat. It's easier to pack on day trips and stays on head better in wind.
Get a notebook that fits in my bag better
Keep day's possible schedule in notebook
Hotels near Ruby Tuesday near airport in Atlanta: Sheraton, Courtyard, Fairfield, Hampton, Super 8.
Get directions to the airport hotel area without I-85 or I-285
To Walmart from Ruby Tuesday: R out of parking lot, L on Old National, 4-5 miles on R.
Get a sheet to use for cover - duvet is too heavy for cover
Get a ship robe to wear for warmth in stateroom

Steps averaged per day: 11,500

Spent: tips $200; tours $300; souvenirs and gifts $300

Fort Lauderdale, FL; Atlanta, GA; Rome, GA - February 8, 2009

2009-02-08T21:06:00.000-05:00

We were in the first group to disembark, so we left a wake-up call for 6:00 AM. Of course, we were awake before the call came. After breakfast, we perused the bill, checked to be sure we had everything from the room, took a few pics from the balcony, then went to the Explorer's Lounge to wait for disembarcation. Collected luggage, went through customs, too bus to airport, collected luggage again, checked in, cleared security (Jim's CPAP machine had to be scanned, as usual) and were waiting for plane by 9:30 AM.

Uneventful flight, thank God. Picked up car at motel, drove home.

Home at last 7:00 PM

Eleuthera, Bahamas - February 7, 2009

2009-02-07T23:28:00.003-05:00

The Emerald Priincess couldn't dock at shore here at Princess Cays. The ship dropped anchor away from shore and prepared to shuttle passengers ashore via tenders. We tendered ashore at 8:45 to meet our shore-excursion guide.

Facts I learned on our 4 1/2 hour tour of Eleuthera:

Eleuthera (uh LEW thruh) means "freedom"
towns are called "settlements"
Island shows a strong connection to its Christian beginnings
Island was settled for religious freedom
"'ail" mean to greet or to wave, which people do regardless of whether they know you or not.
"I come terecly" - I'll be right there.
"Don't yuck up my vexation!" - don't make me mad.
"right here between Oh Lord and Thank God!" - I'm fine, okay.
"mix up like poke salat" - confused
"look here now..." - conversation starter
"you don't have no broughtupsy" - you're rude
national flower is the Yellow Elder

Our driver is the uncle of Olympic 200m winner at Beijing. I made a picture of a large sign honoring the Olympian.

We saw damage from 1979 Hurricane David.

We visited a museum and Police station (didn't write down the name of the town) and took pics with the female police chief, Sergeant Brown. We also visited the "bottomless hole", fed fish there and tasted tamarind. We picked long pods of seeds from Ponciana trees to make music.

In Tarpon Bay we stopped at a beautiful old Anglican church then went out on the stinky fishing pier. We saw McMillan Castle (built only in 1970)

Our lunch stop was at 4-points Bar and Grill. We had a buffet of conch fritters, coconut-breaded wings, and mac and cheese with pina colada rolls for dessert and coconut-water drinks. There was a conch-salad-making demo. I called home and got to talk briefly while waiting for everyone to get to the bus.

We saw a demo of palm weaving and filled out an evaluation of the tour. We enjoyed the tour except it was too long and the DVD that played constantly in the bus was irritating. We got back to the beach just barely in time to tender back to the ship.

Evening was spent packing, napping, dinner in Cafe Carib, and last-night comedy show with both Jim McDonald and Jeff Peterson. We watched "Hancock" outside on Deck 15 and bought a T-shirt in the atrium.

All at Sea .... again

2009-02-06T23:50:00.001-05:00

Lots of ship motion from 4:00 Am onward. It doesn’t look rough out, not storming, but the water is rough. Water doesn’t look rough either.

Ø Breakfast at 9:50 was incredibly crowded – food was cold by the time we found a table.
Ø It is a little chilly outside today
Ø To library to donate books and magazines, to Wheelhouse for Trivia (room almost full with groups of 5 or 6) – I played alone and scored only 8 out of 20.
Ø To Crooners for Scattergories. I played with a British couple and a couple from Indiana. Bob and Nancy and Jim and Liz.
Ø To Internet Café; computers were v-e-r-y s-l-o-w today. I checked email, CaringBridge, info on Eleuthera
Ø Met Jim for lunch. He’s not feeling well.
Ø Listened to IPod and napped a little then went back up to 15 for tea and a cheese/roll snack
Ø Shower, cleanup. Jim to dinner; Joan back to internet café to use up the rest of my 250 minutes
Ø Comedian Jim McDonald again
Ø Pizza on deck 15
Ø Paperwork for end of cruise (immigration, evaluations, tips, etc.)

St, Thomas, USVI February 5, 2009

2009-02-05T23:50:00.000-05:00

Woke up at 7:00 and sat on balcony and watched us dock. This was the first time we’ve docked on our side of the ship. Another large ship is docked in front of us – can’t tell what it is from here. Took a couple of pictures. Looked through the pictures I have taken so far. I can’t match what I am seeing with either of the deck-diagrams in the shopping guide, so I can’t decipher the shopping guide and/or map of the port.

Sun came up while I sat on balcony; began to get hot very quickly.
Breakfast, then off the ship.
Shopped at pier briefly then left for shore excursion.

Shore Excursion to St. John
Took the ferry “Island Girl” – large, fast, and rough ride
Saw homes of Michael Jordan, Alan Alda, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, Chevy Chase, Madonna, others. Guide says the town stops when Madonna is in town.
Other islands passed: Little St. James, Great St. James, St. James

Took an island “taxi” for the land tour – a 20-passenger open bus. Sat in the back with a couple from Kentucky.
No airport on the island; ferry to St. Thomas every hour costs $6 each way.
There is an elementary school on the island, but other students take the ferry to St. Thomas every day.
No large shopping areas on the island – people shop on St. Thomas
The three islands have one governor
Only two hotels on St. John
The color of the water is amazing!

Island population = 6500 on 19 square miles

Most of the island is a national park

Two big beaches: Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay
Made 15 minute stop at Cinnamon Bay – like a national park setting, woods, pavillians, restrooms, lockers, etc. Wooded path to beach.
Stopped at ruins of an old sugar mill.
Can see Tortola from Maho Bay viewing site. Our driver is from there.
Stop at Bordeau Mtn – highest point on island – could see a cruise ship docked on Tortola

Finished listening to Dark Harbor by Stuart Woods
Rest, nap, TV, Ipod, Shower, dinner

Comedian Jim McDonald – missed most of it because I couldn’t see the screen (he used video for some of his comedy) from where I sat.
Checked email, walked around ship
Movie on deck – Get Smart

Roseau, Dominica February 4, 2009

2009-02-04T23:50:00.000-05:00

Awake at 6:25, docked at 7:15, breakfast

Loaded on bus for tour at 7:50 in Roseau (Row-Zoe)
Info about Dominica:
Ø 365 rivers
Ø Very poor
Ø Bad roads
Ø Mountainous

Along our route, some houses were so close to the road, residents could have reached out and touched the busses from their front doors.

Saw bananas, pineapples, oranges, grapefruit, and watermelon growing. Bananas often covered in blue bags (called condoms) to control the ripening process. Banana grow in “hands” and “fingers”.

At Jaco (Jacko) Falls, we took the long steep trek down 55 steps to the falls. The legend is that dipping in the water at the foot of the falls would take 10 years off your age. Only two of us got in – me only to my knees; the other lady up to waist.

At botanical gardens, we saw sausage trees, cannonball trees, parrots, owls, cricket field where many celebrities have visited (including Queen of Eng.)

We stopped at a mountaintop area called “President’s ???” and had a magnificent view of the ship and a cricket stadium. There were lots of the same type of tourist “shops.”

Back to the ship for lunch and a nap. Jim went to movie and I spent some time in the internet café.

Evening entertainer was Hernandez, hypnotist. He bombed badly! I got really ticked off with a waitress. It is fairly common for the waitstaff in the performance venues to ignore requests for soft drinks, since they don’t make as much money on those; but most servers are not as obvious as Oleana was. She didn’t bring coke ordered; kept ignoring us. I finally made an issue of finding out her name. Another lady saw my irritation and came over and told me that she had the same experience with this waitress and had made a complaint.

We went to the late-night outside movie on Deck 15 “Ghost Town”.

St, Georges, Granada February 3, 2009

2009-02-03T23:50:00.000-05:00

We were up at 7:45 and were still en route to Grenada. We went back to bed. I listened to a Stuart Woods novel then took a shower.

In the Line Dance class we had the instructor I don’t like – the white effeminate Miko. He goes through things much too fast and seems to think that the idea is to confuse the heck out of the participants.

He “taught” the Honky-tonk-honk – ran through the steps very quickly then proceeded to put on the music and play it faster and faster so nobody could keep up. Then Miko “taught” the Disco Inferno. He used the same procedure – barely introduce the basic steps then immediately race through it as fast as possible with the music.

In the ballroom dance class (with the good black instructor, Maraschal) He reviewed the Cha-Cha, the Salsa, and the Meringue (which I missed)

Jim and I sat on deck 15 and ate pizza as we docked. Next to us was a Celebrity ship as large as ours – the Celebrity Summit.

I found Grenada very unpleasant. The vendors absolutely swamped the passengers – literally grabbing your clothes to propel you to their vending areas. It reminded me of the vendors in Antigua. I don’t think I’ll want to return here. We could have left the dock area and walked into town easily, but it was a little scary to have such aggressive vendors; so we didn’t get out of the port area. It was very crowded and felt unsafe. It was also oppressively HOT!

The captain made an announcement (AFTER disembarkation began) that passengers wearing camouflage won’t be allowed to enter the country.

Grenada is part of a 3-island nation: Carriacu and Petite Martinique are the other two.
There was a large number of women dressed in professional clothing on the streets in town

We shopped and came back to ship separately. When I got back (very early), I sat on deck and drank a strawberry daiquiri (YUM). I went to buffet and snacked and enjoyed the view.

Came back to room, lay and listened to Dark Harbor and dozed for a couple of hours.

When sun went down at 6:00, it started getting dark and cooler very fast. I sat on balcony and wrote and enjoyed the scenery and breeze.

Showered, dressed and went to dinner in Michaelangelo dining room about 8:00, then sat in Club Fusion, listened to Voltz and watched dancers.

Kralendijk, Bonaire February 2, 2009

2009-02-02T23:50:00.000-05:00

We scheduled no shore excursions for Bonaire. This is the only one of the Netherland Antilles that we had not visited before. We had been to both Aruba and Curacao before.

We had a very noisy docking about 7:00 AM

Could see a large soccer field from the ship.

Joan to breakfast at 8:00 – really BAD grits. Sat on deck 15 portside and looked around at the town since little was visible from our balcony. There was no obvious shopping area visible from the ship.

I showed little enthusiasm yesterday for the camera Jim bought me, and he is understandably irritated with me for that. It just seems that every time I decide not to get into photos, we get a new camera and I am pushed back into it. Also it is such a pain to be constantly learning how to use new electronic “stuff” – computers, cameras, etc.

I am wearing a sundress today, so I cannot wear the pedometer. From the ship it looks like at least 6 or 7 blocks from the gangway to where it looks like most passengers are heading. It is extremely HOT here today – at least 90 degrees.

About 10:00 AM, we walked into Kralendijk. The whole town is within walking distance. . “Bon Bini” signs everywhere you look. We enjoyed looking around and walking through not only the port “craft mall” type shops, but the actual town shops. I couldn’t find any large bags or shirts like I was looking for; but I did go into a bookstore and bought some little notebooks for the kids.

We were back on the ship by 12:00.

I sat on Deck 7 and watched Bonaire recede and listed to Stone Barrington on my Nano; then I sat inside in the Explorer Lounge and watched an art auction. After that I walked into one of the midship lounges and listened to a pianist. I finally gave in and signed up for 250 minutes of internet time and spent about an hour checking email and reading Caringbridge updates on Lily.

After dinner, comedian Carey Long was the entertainer. He was very funny! He is from Atlanta. Then the later show was a repeat of the Jeff Peterson show; but we enjoyed it again the second time.

I realized in the middle of the show that my cruise card had come off its chain; so I left and went to the purser’s desk to see if it had been turned in. It had been, so I reclaimed it.

We saw Carey Long again. He was still funny; and we bought a DVD of the show. We went up to the Grill on Deck 15 for a nearly-midnight snack.

Orangestad, Aruba February 1, 2009

2009-02-01T23:50:00.000-05:00

We planned no shore excursions for Aruba because we knew the shipped docked right in town and there was plenty to see and do.

We awoke to the announcement that we were docking. Our stateroom, on the starboard side, faces out to sea at most ports, so we couldn’t watch the docking process from the balcony.

It had rained heavily earlier and the streets were very wet, big puddles were everywhere. While we were ashore, it was cloudy; but the skies cleared as the day progressed.

We went ashore at 8:30 and walked around town separately. I bought a few small items and Jim bought me a Sony digital camera and a memory card and a blackberry charger for himself.

All signs in Orangestad are in English only even though Aruba one of the three islands in the Netherland Antilles and the official language there is Dutch. We met in the upper level of Burger King after awhile. Jim went back to the ship while I piddled awhile longer before returning to the ship about 12:30. In the meantime, I bought a tropical outfit to wear for Island Night.

After lunch on the ship, Jim called home andI sat in a deck chair on Deck 7 and listened to part of a novel on my Nano.

In the evening, Jim watched the Super Bowl and I listened to more of my novel.

The evening’s entertainment was comedic magician Jeff Peterson. The clueless cruise director, Paul, kept messing up the entertainer’s name, saying “Stevenson” instead of “Peterson”. Nobody seemed to notice.

It's called r-e-l-a-x-a-t-i-o-n

2009-01-31T23:55:00.000-05:00

In the line dance class, we learned the Cha-Cha Line Dance – Cotton-Eyed Joe

In ballroom dance class, the dance of the day was the Salsa. It is 3 steps.

After lunch, nap and TV.

The evening entertainer was Billy Prudhomme, a comedy juggler. Not a great performance, but entertaining.

I'm "all at sea"

2009-01-30T23:50:00.001-05:00

We slept late then had breakfast in the Horizon Court.

I went to a morning ballroom dance class; the dance of the day was the Cha-cha.

After the dance class, I just wandered around the ship stopping when I heard or saw something that interested me. I watched a little bit of a towel-folding exhibition and some of a fruit/vegetable-carving demo. I sat in a couple of lounges and listened to music. I stopped by the library and picked up the day’s puzzles to do later. I sat on deck 15 beside a pool at the back of the ship and read and wrote for awhile.

I napped, showered, and changed for dinner.

Jim and I went up to the “movie under the stars”. They were showing Dark Knight. It was chilly in the night air and I couldn’t get into the movie, so I left early.

On the good ship.....

2009-01-29T23:50:00.001-05:00

Of course we were awake before the wake-up call came at 5:30. Caught the 6:00 shuttle to the airport. Check-in and security was quick and easy, so we were sitting at the gate just waiting before 6:30.

We met a couple from NC who were going on the cruise too. Big Mistake to start talking to them. She was grumpy and negative; he was annoyingly talkative. This made the waiting very tedious. They cut at each other constantly; he kept “quizzing” us on every topic of conversation that came up.

When we got to Fort Lauderdale, we had to wait to claim our luggage and then wait for the Princess bus to get to the airport: but when ducks were all lined up, we got on the first bus leaving for the sea port. As platinum members of the Captain’s Club, we got to register early and were actually the very first couple to get registered once they were ready to start registration in what Jim calls “the warehouse.” We waited outside there for about 15 minutes before they were ready, but we were onboard the Emerald Princess and in our stateroom (B201) by 12:30.

Our first action was, of course, to visit the buffet on deck 15 for lunch. We met Danilo, or stateroom steward. He is about 5’ to 5”2”, boney and of middle eastern descent.

After lunch we informally toured the ship. Our stateroom is on Baja deck or Deck 11. Room 201 is the very last room forward on the starboard side on that deck -- a very long walk from the first set of elevators!

The Emerald Princess is larger than even the Grand Princess. It is only 2 years old. In redesigning the ship, they cut down the width of the walking decks and the size of the balconies to make room for more passenger staterooms. There were over 3300 passengers, and everything felt much more crowded than any other cruise we have taken. The EP also has more decks than the Grand or other ships we have cruised on. There are 4 decks above the full-length 15th. The 16th and above are mostly recreational decks. The basketball courts, golf course, running track, kid’s area, and the “night club” are up there.

We stopped by the library on 7 and picked up the quizzes of the day.

Dinner was a seafood fest in the Horizon Court (where we eat most of our meals on most cruises.)

The evening’s show was a comedy magician named Jeff Peterson. We saw his performance in the Princess Theatre (4 decks directly below our stateroom.)

We're off to see.....

2009-01-28T23:59:00.000-05:00

January 28 - Wednesday
We left home about 2:15. As usual we had trouble getting to the hotel (Country Inn and Suites South near the airport). After circling the airport a few times and calling the hotel, we did finally get there, however. We took a nap, went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner, then went to a nearby Walmart to get an extension cord for Jim’s CPAP machine and some earrings for me. Amazing how one can plan to thoroughly for a trip and then forget such essentials! We read and watched TV for awhile before arranging for a wake-up call and going to bed.

Now that the elections are over, will sanity and civility make a comeback in the US?

2008-11-03T08:01:00.004-05:00

Six months ago, already out of patience with the derisive and divisive tone of the media (both the mainstream media and the "homestyle" media of the blogosphere) regarding the presidential election campaign, I determined that I would take a different approach to the s-l-o-w-l-y approaching election. These are the resolutions I wrote for myself at that time, along with my post-experiment observations (in green following each resolution).

I will learn all the FACTS I can about the candidates (especially the presidential and vice-presidential ones.) This was harder than it sounded on the surface. IMHO, The "news" media for the most part could more correctly be labeled the "opinion" media or the "celebrity worship" media. I quickly determined that any so-called news show featuring a celebrity, a network news commentator, or a "panel of experts" does not present NEWS. The only presenters of news are the local newscasters and carefully-selected internet sources. All of the CNN channels, Fox News, and MSNBC are opinion media -- seeking only to raise their revenue by spouting rude accusations and stirring up controversy. So long 24-hour news channels!
I will IGNORE the opinions of others, especially those shouted loudly and rudely with a back-ground beat of name-calling and disrespectful tones. This also turned out to be hard - and I admit to some backsliding here. I am, from early training, a courteous person - I find it hard to turn and walk away when someone is talking or to tell someone that I will not discuss what they're talking about. Of course this resolution lead to a moratorium on blog reading; most bloggers cannot resist (or don't want to resist) trying to push their opinions onto others. I confess to reading a few blogs which I know to be strongly opinionated, but I love the people who write them and don't want to miss any non-political post they might happen to write. If you are not adverse to reading political opinion, check out my brother, my sister, my other sister, and my niece.
I will pray every day, not only that the best selection be made, but that God will work in whichever of the candidates actually becomes our president. (After all, God gave us free will, and human beings do not always make the best decisions.) This one was easy. I did it every day.
I will make my decision about my vote based primarily upon the the CHARACTER and ACTUAL RECORD OF PAST POLITICAL AND PERSONAL ACTIONS AND STATEMENTS of the candidates. (The supposed "platform" means little - the president doesn't make decisions on his/her own - campaign ideologies are only statements of wishes.) Of course, separating fact and opinion is not always easy. It is surprising how hard it is to find actual records uncontaminated with someone's commentary about the meaning of the record.
I will vote at the very first opportunity. I did. Early in the day on the very first day that voting was allowed in Georgia, my mother and I made the rounds of the three courthouses in Rome, GA until we found the correct place to cast our ballots.

As I finish writing this post, it is the last day that candidates can campaign. Tomorrow is election day. My experiment is over. I can return to blogdom. I can return to conversations with those I love. I can watch TV again. All those who have offended each other during the last year can begin to mend fences. Life will go on. Neither Barack Obama nor John McCain is our savior. As my beloved Daddy always said and believed - God is still on the throne!