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.