A Wake-Up Call

August 29, 2014 ~ JodiLea

AngelStatue No more calls from J. C. since the one last Friday. Anonymous commented on that –
“It’s all over Facebook. Tons of people are getting this call!”

Oh, Really?

I use Facebook to keep up with friends and family and I have yet to see any mention of phone calls from heaven. Maybe Jesus is only calling those people who need to shape up. This would explain why my friends and family are not getting the heavenly wake-up call. It would also explain why I did.

Out of the 7 deadly sins, at least 3 of them have hung around lately. They are my favorites, and I tend to allow them to visit when I’m feeling sorry for myself, in pain, or weak in spirit. Welcome to my summer…

Gluttony came over first and allowed me to eat whatever the hell I wanted to, when I wanted to. Stay up until 2 or 3 in the morning watching movies that hubby rather not. There are a ton of those kind of movies. It’s amazing how quickly a person can gain 20-pounds.

Pride naturally came over to torture me about not fitting into my clothes anymore, rag on me to start grooming myself again (I have been lax about washing face 2x a day, caring what I looked like and didn’t want to leave the house – i.e. get dressed). Sometimes she (vanity) goads me into action, sometimes she makes me depressed. I flipped back and forth all summer long depending on how much pain I was in.

Last, but never least, Sloth shows up. To encourage what my therapist would call, “The Fuck-Its”. Meaning, you don’t give a hoot about anything anymore, you don’t want to deal with even the smallest things, and just leave me the Hell alone. I don’t want to quilt, or (gasp!) write.

Unchecked, Sloth lures Wrath into the mix. Luckily, the call from Jesus Christ last week stopped the vicious cycle. The thought of having to answer to the Lord freaked me out. I knew I was not taking good care of myself (physically and spiritually), and he would be displeased. He did not even have to say anything over the phone line – I got the message.

Did you get a wake-up call?

A Canadian Drive By

July 12, 2014July 12, 2014 ~ JodiLea

Day 7 : Victoria
(sort of…)

The Golden Princess began having engine trouble after leaving Ketchikan, and the Captain had to slow our speed way down. We docked in Canada to do required International paperwork, then we sailed out of port within the hour. We needed to reach Seattle in time for passengers to catch their flights home. Once again, passengers were not allowed off the ship. All shore excursions were canceled and refunded, along with an extra $25 credit on our final bill. A nice gesture by the Captain, but it hardly made a dent in the scheme of things! Hubby and his bro went ‘exploring’ (a.k.a. to get ice-cream) while I propped my feet up and wrote, tried to beat Level 40 in Candy Crush, and knitted a row or two on my latest project. Yawn.

The Disembarkation process was excellent. They had it down to an organized science. Probably because they were sick of us by now, or we were in the 3rd grouping to leave. Either reason worked for us, just that it was. Organized I mean.

My poor feet began to swell up any time they were not propped up. It hurt to walk or move around. Because of The Rule of Gates, it was Hell at the airport. For those who are not familiar with the rule, it simply states that – “The gate farthest away is the gate you must go to.” The amendment to this rule is: “When your departing gate changes, it will be to the farthest one from the original.”

I suspect you already knew that rule, didn’t you?

The bus from the pier to airport was a 45-minute ride. In a near-vegetative state, dozing with my eyes open, then jerked awake by sharp corners or squealing brakes, I looked forward to getting home and getting some rest. Like I was looking forward to a vacation.

Something is very wrong about that.

Note: We arrived home safe AND uneventfully. 🙂

Jewelry Salmon Capital Of The World

July 11, 2014 ~ JodiLea ~ 1 Comment

Day 6: Thursday, July 3rd, Ketchikan

We were cheated on this port of call – we docked at 7:30am and all aboard was at 11:30am. I thought it was a typo, but they really meant four hours, then we set sail for Victoria, British Columbia. Truth be told, I was relieved. My legs and feet were talking about mutiny at this point.

The Gang did not have any excursions booked, so we wandered among the souvenir shops, in Grandma & Grandpa mode, looking for gifts for our grand-kids.

And just like anytime I go shopping, I cannot find what I want to buy, so I have to debate with myself a while, then make a compromise. I hate shopping. I may have mentioned this before.

As much as I adore my granddaughters, I just wanted to stay on board ship with my feet up. It was raining, and the lumberjack show was sold out. It must have been passengers from one of those DAM ships beat us to it. To clarify, Holland America Cruise lines always had one of three ships at the same port we were at. The ships, named “Amsterdam“, “Westerdam” “Zuiderdam” were twice the size of our Golden Princess. We called them the DAM Ships to crack ourselves up. Holland America is a DAM fine cruise line, BTW. Our trip, years ago, on the Statendam was fabulous.

The town shops are unique and attractive. There were streets (not just the main drag) packed with them, the majority being – wait for it – jewelry stores. If it wasn’t a jewelry store, you could buy salmon there. Fish and jewelry don’t mix I guess. I picked out some warm long-sleeved T-shirts for my granddaughters, as well as a couple of ‘fun’ things, and that’s all I wanted to shop. My feet, legs and back were still hurting from hiking all over Alaska’s shops in Juneau and Skagway. [It wasn’t until I got back home that I discovered the girls shirts did not even say “Alaska” on them. DAM!]

I managed to sweet talk hubby into abandoning shore to find a comfy, quiet place to read (him) and write (me). We found the library and internet cafe on deck 5. No one else was there! A first since we set sail in Seattle. We enjoyed a peaceful hour just sitting together, not doing anything. Hubby, at one point, fell asleep. I continued re-writing chapter nine and let him sleep. Why not? There were no witnesses to embarrass him.

We met the ‘gang’ in our dining room at high-noon for lunch. It amazed us how hungry we would be four or five hours after a huge breakfast. I blame all the shopping.

Our waiters, Enrique and Ashok, attended to our every need & desire (food and beverage desires that is). All I know is that we are thoroughly spoiled and 10 pounds heavier. Speaking for myself only here. I secretly hoped my sis-in-law who is a size 0 (yep, a size zero), has to buy a size 1 now. Am I bad? I love the woman very much, but come on! A size zero? LastFormalNight

Our second (and last) formal night was fabulous! It was lobster and Baked Alaska night. Hubby ordered Beef Wellington – go figure. The menfolk were reminded about their promise to dance with us on the next formal night, and lead to a lounge with good music (lots of slow songs), and we danced together for almost an hour. Sweet! LoveBirdsDancing

Although they claimed to have ‘forgotten’ all about their promise, they were good sports. They even seemed to enjoy themselves.

Mmmm… Don’t you just love a man in a Tux? 😉

TTFN,
JodiLea

FYI: All Photographs published in this blog-series were taken by the author (me), except for the couple that I stole from ‘Sis Zero’s’ Facebook. 🙂