BON VOYAGE!

OK - It seems like only yesterday that the trip was a long long way off. I guess time really does fly, whether you're having fun or not. There has been so much going on the past few months the time just got away with me and all of a sudden it is here! Now comes the packing, planning, last minute panic, etc. etc. I really believed that once my retirement was final I would have loads of time to just sit down and do a really good job of planning for the cruise. Not so - It is two days away and I am more or less ready.

Katelyn is already in London visiting Sasha, her PSU tennis team buddy. I will meet up with her on Monday morning at Heathrow and we fly together to Istanbul, where we board the big boat. Jon, Mary Jane and Cindy meet up at JFK and fly directly to Istanbul. I fly out of Newark, and have been wondering what my choice of transportation would be - the airport is about a two and a half hour drive from home. I had decided to drive myself and find a long term parking option at or near the airport, which would cost me around $175.00. Yesterday Mike offered to drive me to the airport - before you get all choked up over his kindness he did say that he only offered because the Steelers were not playing that day! I hope they are not playing when I return!!!!

The only thing missing now is an international incident in one of the countries on our itinerary. I am certain there will be one. As of today the weather in Istanbul on the day we arrive looks terrible, and the weather report there indicates to watch for flight delays. Hopefully that all blows over before we get there.

I have had such a fun time planning this trip and feel so blessed that some of my family and friends chose to enjoy the adventure with me. I know it will make the trip so much better. I will miss Sun this time around as she is now married and with child. I did get to spend an evening with her a couple of weeks ago and she is clearly extremely jealous!!! Sun and I have enjoyed many trips together, including our crazy adventure in southeast Asia. I think my cruise group will be great fun also.

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS IN TWO DAYS! I have really appreciated all the good wishes coming my way from everyone!

YOU CAN'T HAVE TOO MANY BOOKS!

I just can't go on a cruise without enough reading material. I have begun making some choices on what to take with me to read while relaxing on my balcony or sitting in a deck chair. When I travel I like to take books that are somehow related to the places I am visiting. I also prefer light reading when I travel as I sometimes read when I am tired, or need a book that I can put down easily.

A no-brainer for me to read while in or near Venice is one of Donna Leon's mysteries, which include such wonderful descriptions of life in Venice. Commissario Guido Brunetti is the solver of crimes in her novels. My good friend Lynn was way ahead of me on this one and when I visited her on Maryland's eastern shore recently there were several Leon novels sitting on the night stand in the guest room. The one I chose is "Death and Judgment".

Again my friend Lynn and her husband Jeff rose to the occasion with their extensive library collection and actually found two more mysteries in their collection, one by Robert Harris, "Pompeii", and one by Jason Goodwin, "The Snake Stone". The latter takes place in Istanbul and the former speaks for itself. Both of these authors are new to me, so I will really enjoy getting to know them.

Another book that Lynn and Jeff loaned me is "Michelangelo and the The Pope's Ceiling" by Ross King. I plan to read this before I leave for the cruise as it is definitely not "light reading" and I want to learn all I can about the Sistine Chapel ceiling to better appreciate what I am looking at while I am there.

I think a good plane read is "The Man Who Smiled" by Henning Mankell. The PBS series "Wallander" with Kenneth Branagh is based on his books. Anyway, as you can see I believe that picking reading material for my trip is just as important as choosing shore excursions, etc. When Sun and I went to the Dominican Republic a couple of years ago I managed to read five books while lounging on the beach. Anybody out there have any good reads to recommend?

MAN OVERBOARD!

HOWARD'S END - CAPE MAY, NJ





Or I should say "women overboard". I got a very sad email the other day - Melissa and Alda Mandell have had to drop out of the cruise. Sad, but true. We will miss them.


I have had such a busy summer that I haven't had much time to think about what is it like to be a retiree. I traveled to Watertown, NY at the end of June for a graduation party for Ryan Kenyon, Graham and Rena's son. BeVard parties are always a lot of fun. I stayed an extra day to travel further north to Ogdensburg for nostalgia sake. Then spent a fun evening in Syracuse with family.

I headed down to Lewes, DE the third week of July to pick Hannah up from Field Hockey camp. We spent a couple of days in Rehoboth Beach, driving to Assateague Island to see the wild ponies, spending a couple of hours at a spa getting massages and pedicures, and riding bikes all around town. (It is true what they say about riding a bike - I had not in many many years, and got right back on and took off like a pro - well maybe not like a pro)

On Saturday the 25th we got on a ferry and ferried over the Delware Bay to Cape May, NJ and met up with the rest of the family for a week at the beach. We all fell in love with the house we had rented and didn't want to leave when it was time to go home. Jillian, Brett, Peter, and Aaron joined us from VA, Courtney from NY, and the Kelly's and I from PA. It was a fun week of relaxation and bonding with family. I guess I should mention here that my second attempt at bike riding was not so successful. I ended up laying in the street between two parked cars with multiple cuts, bruises and strains. I did, however, get up, get back on, and ride around for about half an hour just to say I did. Then I nursed my wounds.

On the way home I stopped in York, PA to attend the graduation party for Hope, Don and Doris' daughter. Then the day after I got home I drove to Syracuse for Maleka's baby shower hosted by Amy and Laurie. More pics on facebook for those of you who indulge in that recreation.


I was home for only four days, then headed to NC to visit Stephanie and Ruthie. Ruthie is leaving to live in France for a while to improve her foreign language skills and to experience a different lifestyle. We will miss her, but at the same time envy the wonderful experience she will have.

I had the added pleasure of renewing a relationship with Milan and meeting his son Lars. The five of us headed to Morehead City, NC to spend a couple of days with Bob and just hang out and have fun. Again, more pics on facebook.


From NC I drove to Northern VA to attend a surprise birthday party for an Arlington colleague of mine, then spent a few days with Jillian and Brett and the boys. Later in the week I drove to the Eastern Shore to my friend Lynn's where we spent a couple of days seeing "Julie and Julia" going to the spa, and just enjoying being together. While shopping at the outlets I bought a travel purse and a billfold that will hold my passport, credit card, money, etc. (Always thinking about the cruise!)

I am home again and have said adieu this morning to the French students and chaperone who have been visiting Tunkhannock for three weeks. School will start soon and I will know what it feels like for the first time not to be there!

Two More Shipmates!

It's only three months and a few days before we take off for the Mediterranean. Alda and Melissa Mandell have taken the plunge and signed on as shipmates. That makes 7 of us all together at this point and still room for more. Jon would love to see some male types sign on so he isn't on a "chick cruise", as he says. I welcome anyone who wants to have this experience with me.



Choosing shore excursions has been quite an experience. There are so many to choose from and not having cruised before I am new to this and don't know all the ropes. At any rate for the time being we have chosen excursions at every port. Now I have to get in shape to be able to doing the required walking and hiking without huffing and puffing the whole way. I have invested in some good walking shoes and have started breaking them in around my neighborhood, which does not lack for hills. Being retired helps because I can get out in the morning before it gets too hot.



We've had some financial breaks on the cruise cost because of the economy. Those emails have been very welcomed. The savings are both for the cruise and the flight. I guess there has to be some benefit for a lousy economy.

Retirement Party #2 and #3

On May 30 my friend Lynn gave me a dinner party to celebrate my retirement. It was a winning combination of family and friends as we managed to have a wonderful time though many of the guests met for the first time that evening. Three colleagues from my office were there as well as three family members, myself and my friend Lynn. The dinner party was held at Patsel's, one of my favorite restaurants in the area.

As usual Lynn was the perfect hostess and everything was delightful, delicious, and endearing. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends and such a special family, who are always so supportive of family events.

Event #3 was a catered dinner at our office hosted by the school board. It was a special event and made me feel like I have had a positive impact on the school system and the people I have worked with for the past five years. I was presented with a lovely sculpture engraved with "Thank you for nurturing each child's spirit for growth and achievement". A gift I will always cherish. It is a strange feeling to be at the end of a 40 year career, one that has given me much.

Now I am officially unemployed and have been home for a week trying to figure out "what's next?" I was in New York this past weekend for my grand nephews high school graduation party. The party was near Watertown, which is an hour from Ogdensburg where I used to travel with my father when he owned an airport there in the 50's. I balked at driving up there on Sunday as I dreaded the drive back to PA after my visit. Then I realized, "I don't have to be at work on Monday, so don't have to be home on Sunday." I guess this is something that will take some getting used to. I ended up driving back as far as Syracuse and spending the night with family. Much more relaxing than arriving home tired and then having to get up for work the next morning. I think I will get used to this pretty quick.

Cruise update coming soon. I may be adding a couple more shipmates soon. Right now am working on shore excursions. FOUR MORE MONTHS.

Retirement Party #1 - CHECK OUT THE CAKE!

On May 8 the wonderful people I work with gave me a great send-off surprise party at the hotel in Wyalusing. The biggest surprise was Stephanie driving up from Raleigh to join us. It was such a lot of fun and the cake was AMAZING! It even had five flags in the corner, each one representing the countries that I will visit on the cruise. The cake was a perfect replica of the Norwegian Jade all the way down to the portholes.

Everyone knows I love See's lollipops and there were plenty of those on hand to enjoy, as well as a lot of other tasty treats. It was so nice to spend some fun time with my colleagues who I have enjoyed working with for the past five years. I will miss Wyalusing and the friends I have made there. My "Gift From God" poster was a big hit (you had to be there).

The bonus of finding this job five years ago and having the opportunity to explore new horizons and meet new challenges has been so rewarding. I have been very fortunate in my career choices and from Arizona to Virginia to Pennsylvania, it has been my pleasure.

Less Than Six Months To Go!

Mother's Day and only six more months until I fly to Turkey to embark on our adventure. We had a great annual Mother's Day brunch at Patsel's. As usual the food was phenomenal and the setting was beautiful. A little chilly and windy for May 10th, but some sunshine brightened the day. The bottom picture was taken in the ladies room at the restaurant. It is the only public restroom that Shellie voluntarily uses. It is as beautiful as the rest of the restaurant. Shellie and I got gerber daisies as a Mother's Day treat from the owners. A very pleasant time indeed. I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day celebrating with your loved ones and remembering all of our Mother's who have passed this life and are greatly missed.

5 films in two days - 10 more to go

Local wines, fantastic hors d'oeuvres, tantalizing desserts and two great movies at The Dietrich theater last night. Six hours of pure joy. Mary Jane came down from Syracuse to join us this time around and we managed three more movies today. Shellie and Mary Jane are at one tonight while I decided to sit one out - will catch it later. We would recommend highly "A Christmas Tale" with Catherine Deneuve (French) and "How About You" with Vanessa Redgrave (Irish). Both are excellent.

We saw a movie today titled "Ice People" a documentary about scientists living in Antarctica. They mentioned several times during the movie about people who stay home and do crossword puzzles, which tickled Mary Jane and I since we are both crossword puzzle addicts. When they described how the dead skin on their bodies peels off when they take a shower after months without one we decided we would take crossword puzzles over that any day. It was compared to wax dripping off a candle - eeeyuuuuuuuuu.

Mary Jane and I took the opportunity this morning to do cruise business. We perused the Norwegian Cruise Line website and made some decisions on shore excursions that are not to be missed, which turned out to be many. We decided that we needed to pick ones that allowed us to see as much as possible as we may not be back that way soon, if ever. As many require a bit of walking I am going to have to get in shape. Of all the places we are going to see I have to say I am most excited about Pompeii. I have always been fascinated with ancient history and among my favorite trips so far are seeing Ankgor Wat in Cambodia and the pyramids and temples of Egypt. Pretty exciting stuff, which requires a fair amount of walking and climbing.

Every time we talk about the cruise, questions come up that we need to get answers to. I think that is an advantage to having several people involved. Someone will think of things that I never thought about. I feel so fortunate to have those who want to share this experience with me. I am so ready for this adventure to begin.

The time to book is now - prices will never be lower.

Welcome Aboard Katelyn Bevare

We have a new shipmate!! I got on the cruise line website yesterday and lo and behold there was a Katelyn Bevare booked in my stateroom. I really don't know anyone by that name, so I hope she is nice if she is going to share a room with me. Welcome aboard Katelyn, whoever you are.

I have been looking at the shore excursions that are offered on this cruise. It is going to be really hard to choose what I want to do. I am learning a lot about cruises and how they work. You book the shore excursions online through the cruise line. When you board the ship there is a packet of tickets in your room for the excursions that you have booked. Each time you use a ticket the price goes on your "account". I have a feeling I am going to have to be careful with this "account". I'll bet you can rack up a lot of $$$ after 14 days on a ship. My first question to the travel agent after I booked was "What if you decide after you have already booked an excursion and you change your mind?" She told me to read the cancellation policies for each one very carefully so that you cancel in plenty of time not to get charged. It looks like you can cancel 24 to 48 hours before an excursion and not be charged. So much to learn.

There certainly are things that are a must. I have always wanted to visit Pompei, so I'm sure that will be one of my choices. Also Rome and the Vatican. Then there is the Acropolis. Where does it stop??!! I think I am going to enjoy the days that we do nothing but sail as much as the shore excursions. There are a lot of fun things to do on the ship.

I think people still have visions of cruise ships that include formal dinner wear, group seating at meals, sea sickness, etc. etc. Apparently these things are no more. I am told that the modern ships have excellent stabilizers, you are free to dress however you want (except at the Vatican), and you may eat when you want and with whom you want. I am much more attuned to this kind of sailing. I still have fond memories of my windjammer cruise in Maine.

I have already "checked in" to the cruise online and have started my "account". It is kind of neat to log on and see my name along with Cynthia Meeker and Katelyn Bevare. I can't see Jon and Mary Jane because they are not sharing the same room.

We also booked our flights, so we are one step closer to the big day. Because of the economic situation right now we were able to get pretty good rates. My flight goes out of Newark, NJ and goes to London. Katelyn told me that we were on the same flight from London to Istanbul. I'm happy about that.

Who's next????? C'mon, let's get with it!!!!

Fabulous February

This has been a fun month. Educators hate February because even though it is the shortest month of the year, it seems to be the longest of the school year. I planned ahead and scheduled three trips during this February, my last as a working girl. (girl?)

On Friday the thirteenth Sam and I headed to West Palm Beach, FL to visit Patti, Tim and Grey. Temps were in the 80's the whole four days we were there and it felt so good. We had a great time riding an airboat through the Everglades, visiting animal sanctuaries with wild animals that had once been pets and later discarded for whatever selfish reason, swimming on the beach at Peanut Island and visiting the Kennedy bunker there, and many many other great activities which included mustachios, funyons, and alligators. (see pics) As usual when I fly anywhere there is a catastrophic plane crash right before I leave. No different this time. I wondered why there was no CNN at the Atlanta airport during our layover, then learned of the Buffalo crash when we landed, which explained the news blackout. Good thing I didn't know - I watched the wings on the return flight every minute, looking for ice.

The following weekend I met Stephanie in Amish Country. We stayed in a B & B that was also an art gallery (right up my alley) and spent a great couple of days touring the area and enjoying a meal with an Amish family. We visited the Ephrata Cloister, The Wilbur Chocolate factory in Lititz, and just enjoyed each others company. I would have to say we ate our way through the visit.

This weekend coming up is the annual spa weekend in Hershey to celebrate Shellie's and Sun's birthdays. Jillian and Sun are going to meet us tomorrow evening and we all have our treatments scheduled. We always have a great time in Hershey and we all agree that it is worth the money to sleep on the Hotel Hershey sheets. I can't wait.

Cruise update: I hear Katelyn is getting close to booking - go Katelyn!!!!!!!!

Welcome Aboard Jon and Mary Jane

Two more brave souls have booked passage on the Norwegian Jade for the 70th birthday celebration on the Mediterranean. I am very excited and am waiting for others to commit. Son of a gun, we'll have big fun. I am so happy that Jon and Mary Jane have taken the big step and are now official shipmates. Who is next??

I can't help but notice incidents in the news related to cruises. I don't know if it is because I am just more alert to cruise news or more things are happening, but now that we haven't heard much about piracy on the high seas for a few weeks we start to hear about people disappearing into thin air while on a cruise. What's up with that? I have to admit disappearing sometimes appeals to me, but I think I would find another way to do it.

I usually enjoy winter weather and we are expecting a nice snowfall this week, which I will enjoy, but temperatures don't usually fall into the teens and single digits for days and days in a row. Where is global warming when we need it? I have just about given up trying to stay warm. I am going to visit Patti and Tim in Florida next month and she told me they were expecting temperatures in the 30's this week. I hope they are over that when I get there - I am looking forward to feeling the warm sun on my body.

Happy New Year

I have never had the desire to be awake at the stroke of midnight on New Years eve. However, since moving to PA my grandchildren have been able to keep me up so they could ring in the new year. They like to stay at my house as their parents also do not stay up to welcome the new year. I barely make it to midnight and at 12:01 we are in bed. We do have fun though and celebrate with a glass of ginger ale.

I am sitting here at the end of my second day back and work and watching an ice storm out of my window. Of course this means either school will be closed tomorrow or we will have a delayed opening. I did go out earlier to run a couple of errands and it was in fact, pretty dicey out there.

Has anyone noticed the drastic increase in diet ads on TV recently? They definitely try to hook us when we are the most vulnerable. I feel like I know Valerie Bertinelli personally. I know that it is time to get real about my eating habits and my exercise regimen. I don't want to sink the boat next fall.

Hooda Thunkit!

We had our annual Christmas eve at my house where the kids get their first stocking to open. The gifts are typically holiday pajamas along with shampoo, lotion, etc. etc. This year I threw in Crest Spin Brushes just because I saw them at Walmart and it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Upon emptying out her stocking Erin announced that the spin brush was her favorite gift and she and Sam immediately went to brush their teeth while the rest of us were forced to observe.

Later that evening we watched "A Christmas Story", which has become a tradition with us. It started years ago with just the adults making it through the whole movie, the younger ones losing interest, and has evolved into everyone in the family reciting the lines throughout the film. Shellie and I had seen the movie for the first time on Christmas eve in 1983 when it was in theaters.

On Christmas morning after the kids went through their loot which consisted of Rock Band, clothes, The Dark Knight DVD, and many other toys and games I asked Erin what her favorite gift was. She didn't even stop to think, but said "my spin brush". Sometimes wandering through Walmart looking for stocking stuffers pays off.