Mr. Ellie Pooh

I know several of my readers are the crafty type . . . scrapbooks, stamping, etc.  So I just wanted to pass along this link that I found.  I suggest you use this paper for those projects that end up looking like crap.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Iced

From Jan-Mar 2007

So how ’bout it, Ringmaster, you interested in a paddle today?

Does anyone notice the stark difference between today’s picture and the ones I posted a couple days ago?  Yeah.  Me too.

Snorkeling at Turtle Cove

From Snorkeling

My favorite stop on our cruise was St. Thomas, where I experienced snorkeling for the first time.  Well, I shouldn’t say the first time because in high school during lifeguard training I did some snorkeling in the deep end of the pool.  But I only managed to see the hairy back of my class partner which doesn’t in any way compare to what I saw in St. Thomas.

We came off the ship as early as possible on Tuesday morning, delayed only slightly by a stroll through U.S. Immigration, and found our tour guide waiting for us on the pier.  His name was Chris, and he’d moved down to St. Thomas from Alaska (in January, he’s the smartest dude in the islands).  If you want a picture of Chris, he was the young man handing out temporary tattoos on the boat after our snorkeling excursion.  It wasn’t as bad as it looks, folks–if it was, would my husband be standing there taking pictures??? 

Chris walked us down the pier to a pirate ship named Doubloon.  We motored across the harbor and out to Buck Island and a little spot called Turtle Cove, so named because of the Green Sea Turtles which congregate there.  We had about an hour and a half of snorkeling, and I could have used twice as long. 

From Snorkeling

I expected the turtles to be skittish, but they seemed unconcerned by our presence (our guides instructed us on non-threatening behavior).  After spending some time observing them we moved on to the nearby coral reef where the fish seemed as curious about us as we were about them.

We did have a chance to do some more snorkeling later in the cruise on Labadee, but by the time I got there, our numerous fellow cruisers had frightened most of the fish away.  James, however, snorkeled earlier in the morning and said the fish there were even more varied than at Turtle Cove.

So, does anyone know of any good snorkeling in Northern Wisconsin?  Or maybe I should just stick to kayaking.

More pictures are here.

Five Things

Fannie tagged me for a Five Things list, which is probably a good thing–I need some distraction tonight.  We came home to a 4-year-old sick with the croup, and now the 2-year-old just vomited over every square inch of his crib.  I’m fairly certain I’m not even in the same dimension as I was last week at this time.

So, without further ado, five little-known things about me:

1. I don’t remember learning how to water-ski.  I remember trying to learn how to water-ski when I was about five years old and my dad bribed me with a Dairy Queen treat and the boat dragged me halfway across the lake because no one thought to pass on the bit of advice about letting go of the tow rope in case of a fall.  I’m guessing I finally did figure it out sometime before I was seven or eight, because I practically grew up on water-skis . . . but I have no recollection of that day.
2. I’m a visual learner.  Recite your phone number, and I’ll have trouble converting the auditory signals into written symbols.  However, if I glance at a phone number written on a scrap of paper there’s a good chance I’ll remember it several hours later.
3. EDITED: Four of my five best friends have been left-handed.  I debated whether or not to call the righty my best friend, but I figured she qualified.
4. I hold my pens and pencils the "wrong" way.  My elementary teachers worked diligently to correct my grip, causing them and me unnecessary stress.  I say "unnecessary" because I developed the best penmanship in my class despite the nail-deforming callous on my middle finger.
5. Cola makes me gag.

I tag Jules and Ringmaster and Jess and Karen and my sis.

Toward Home

I’m back!  Well, I’m kinda back . . . actually sitting in the Miami airport right now, but today is the first day in almost a week that I’ve had reliable internet access (despite paying 50 cents per minute on the ship *grrrrr*).  We had a lovely vacation, but now we’re off the ship and headed in the direction of home and I am desperate to see the kids.  I won’t say much more now, but I did upload more photos to keep my readers entertained until I’m back in full swing (hopefully there are some of you still out there).

It’s 72 degrees in Miami right now, but I hear we had a few inches of snow back home.  Ay-ay-ay!

Bahamas and Sea-Sick at Sea

Yesterday morning we docked in the Bahamas for half a day. James and I spent the day shopping and sightseeing with my aunt and uncle. We picked up gifts for Baba and Margie and headed back to the ship by 11:00 AM in order to beat the lunch rush and be on-board in plenty of time for our 1:00 PM departure. Now we’ve been at sea for the past 24 hours en route to St. Thomas, which is supposed to be one of the highlights of our cruise.

About half of our 12-person party has suffered from some sort of illness or another–from sea-sickness to kidney stones to migraine headaches. Last night was the first of two formal dinner nights, and only eight of the twelve of us made it to the table for the meal. The sea-sickies are feeling mostly better today, and we’re slowly getting our group back together.

My favorite place on-ship is the Solarium. It’s a semi-open deck with a small salt-water pool and two hot tubs. For some reason that escapes me, it seems most of the passengers on the ship prefer chlorine to salt water and the ear-assaulting music of the main pool deck to the relaxing quiet of the Solarium. This is just fine with me, as I usually have the pool to myself and can enjoy the salt-water-induced buoyancy in peace.

I’m having some trouble sleeping at night due to the fact that our cabin is directly above the ship’s nightclub (terrible design flaw on this ship!), but I’ve been experimenting with different ear plug/noise machine combinations and I hope I’ll get a decent night of sleep tonight before our big day in St. Thomas tomorrow.

I was able to add a few pix to the web album, but internet access is sluggish and spotty (not to mention expensive) on the ship so no telling when I’ll have more.

Squeezing Lessons

We haven’t boarded the cruise ship yet, but we’ve learned a few things about travel.  Like how to "squeeze".  My mom and my aunt demonstrate the art of squeezing luggage onto a cart:

From Cruise

And now we know just how many people can squeeze into a hotel elevator (apologies for the picture quality, but I had to post it here just to embarrass my mother):

Yes, we’re having a hot time in the old town of Miami.  I have just one more picture to post because I know my cousin would appreciate it:

To be continued . . .

My Very Dull Childhood

Tonight Baba asked a question:  "Mom, what do we have now that wasn’t invented when you were a kid?"

I told him TiVo, VCRs, DVD players, laptop computers, Nintendo . . .

At this point his eyes bugged out, and he said, "HOW did you entertain yourself?"  (Maybe it’s time we take a sabbatical from the electronics.)

Now he’s asking, "Mom, was there anything electric invented when you were a kid?"

I’m feeling positively Jurassic.

Weeks 14-16: Illinois, Alabama, Maine

I haven’t said much about our study of the States lately, and that’s mostly because of the pre- and post-Christmas motivational vacuum that hits me most years.  We’ve been keeping up with school but without the zest that usually accompanies our studies (fear not, the gusto shall return very soon!).  In case anyone is still interested, I’ll post my information for the past few weeks.

Illinois

Alabama

Maine

My Sous Chef

From Jan-Mar 2007

Margie tells me she’s going to learn how to cook so she can take over food preparation for the family when she’s a teenager.

That’s fine with me.