All Things EARTH... part 2

Laurie, so many nice outfits! I love the bird shirt. I also have the orange tank with the green palms on it and I wear it with green ankle pants or my khaki skort (since my green one doesn't fit right now). With the pants I wear a bigger necklace and sandals and with the skort usually just earrings and flip flops. In fact that's one of the tops I brought with me to Michigan.

I'm very sad and have to share the news that my beautiful sweet mother passed away on Thursday. I had sat with her all night Wednesday so by the time she passed I was so tired, but so glad I had had so much time with her all to myself. I am comforted by the fact that she had the absolute best care and she left in such a quiet, peaceful way. Still, it's hard to believe I don't have a mom anymore.

I won't be around much for a bit so I wanted you all to know why. You have all been so kind and supportive and I really appreciate that.

Margaret

Oh Margaret I'm so sorry for your loss. Let your wonderful years of memories sustain you. I'm glad her passing was peaceful. Hugs to you. Melody

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Big hugs Margaret. I can't even. Big hugs.

Margaret, I am so sorry to hear about your Mother but she will always live it your heart .

Margaret, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am for your loss. I have lost both of my parents, and there is just no describing how I felt. Like you, I had time with each of them before they passed, and I felt much more at peace as a result.

You find little ways to keep them with you each and every day. As I posted when I was going through my outfits (the original post, where the pictures didn't show), I try to take one necklace with me on every cruise that was my sister's. It's a way for me to feel connected to her. I also sit now in my den, which has way too many things in it, and I look up to see this cheapy Santa fisherman that plays music. It was something I bought for my dad a very long time ago. I keep it out all year long. There is also the thank you card he gave me after his 80th birthday party. He wasn't a guy of a lot of words, but inside it says THANKS FOR EVERYTHING. It melts my heart every time I look at it.

Margaret,

My prayers are with you and your family. A peaceful death--a blessing for all.

Oh, Margaret, I'm so sad for you.

I just saw this when I came over from the Fire thread to post an update.

Hope you can take great comfort in the wonderful memories of times shared with your sweet mother.

I haven't lost a parent, but we sadly lost my Mom's best friend this month to cancer at age 75. Our families are very close. Paula actually hosted a baby shower and bridal showers for my girls.

We hosted 11 of her kids/families At my Mom's for the long funeral/memorial weekend. I could really feel their love and pain, even though we were all relieved that Paula is at peace and in a much better place. (They are a very large Catholic family -- 10 kids!)

You're in my prayers.

Jane

Hi, All!

It's been a long time since I've posted on this thread.

Pasted in below is what I put on the Fire thread when I thought I was posting here:

Sorry I've been AWOL so long from this thread. Life got in the way of participating, but I have been reading here and there.

I am still sticking, as much as possible, to my Earth colors. Still having a hard time finding & identifying them when they're not really obvious. I seem to wear a lot of shades of teal these days with navy(ish),denim, or cream/ivory/warmer beige bottoms (like some chino colors).

I'm mostly focusing on putting the best Earthy colors near my face and choosing bottoms that don't seem to clash. I'm sure much of my navy isn't really warm enough to be Earth, but it seems to work.

For some reason, I can wear shades of blue that don't seem to be Earth, as long as they're not the really powdery air colors. I wish Curt's color Earth cards gave more examples of blue options because I'm not that great at determining which colors "blend in".

We got some exciting news. Our middle daughter is expecting a baby boy next January! This will be our 3rd grandson. When I started posting on the original Seasons thread, it was the year before our oldest DD got married in 2011. She had 2 baby boys who are now 3 yrs old and almost 8 months! All are well. Our youngest son is still single but seriously dating.

Bad news is that I had to cancel our planned 1/21/18 Celebrity Eclipse cruise with our British cruising friends.

Great news is that Melody & her husband will be on our rescheduled date!

Hope all are doing well in our Earth & Fire worlds.

I'll try to chime in more often.

Jane

PS I wonder how Curt is doing? Must be very busy with his family and business.

Jane, it's funny that you posted because a few days ago, I found myself asking about a few people we haven't heard from lately. One was Lauri, and the other was you! I'm glad to hear you are doing so well.

I agree on the colors - I wish I had more samples of certain colors. I am finding some good color charts on Pinterest, but you have to watch that a bit. I think that generally speaking, if you see colors you know are right, you will be able to tell if the rest of the colors in the grouping work okay.

For me, I struggle because sometimes it's had for me to tell when you you've gone from one group to the next. There are those colors that I can say are earth, hands down. Then I see other colors and I think they are warm and muted, but not as much as other colors so then I debate if I'm really looking at fire or what. I'm getting better though, and I find the color charts help me a lot.

I have not heard from Curt in ages. He helped me quite a bit with what styles would work for me, which was so important to me. I think that was around a few years after he was helping all of us with our colors. I had put on weight and just couldn't figure out what looked good on me and what didn't. I was too focused on being unhappy with my weight to see it. I have lost quite a bit, but I find that my shape is generally still the same, so need to watch the same things overall.

I believe he has two daughters now, if memory serves me right.

Last I heard, Curt did indeed have a second daughter. I'm sure he must have his hands full!

Here's something that I found on clearance at Chico's on Sunday. It's called an Animal Mix Belted Cardi. I immediately cut off the stiff black belt because it did nothing for me at all. Somehow was marked down from $74.99 to $18.99. It has many colors in it that I'm confident are Earth. Seems to "read" as Earth to me.

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Not sure why my own photo didn't upload. I haven't used the CruiseCritic ipad app much at all. Here's another attempt. I can't figure out how to edit my original post using the app.

I think it looks "earthier" on me and in person than in the website photo I posted on last post. Jane

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Laurie, I can't see any of the pictures. All I get is "please update your account to enable 3rd party hosting. When I click on it I get a blank page. I'd really like to see the pictures!

 

Anita, I agree with Sally & Laurie. Get some vacuum bags & put the outfits that you really love in them & donate the rest (get receipts, you can deduct them). All the walking you're doing will definitely help with the weight loss

 

Laurie, Chicos has a lovely olive green in their Travelers line. Wide legged slacks, tank & open cardigan. It might be formal enough for you to wear to work.

 

Here's Les in the full face snorkel mask, I'll have him get me next time we go . Mine is electric blue with black.

 

I hope all is well with Margaret. Melody

 

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Ray & I have masks like that! Will be fun on our joint excursion!

Jane

Here's my "I am your mother!" . Melody

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I feel like I'm in opposite world of Laurie! She's going through her outfits and getting ready to pack and has been making fun purchases while I am going through my clothing as I unpack and heaping up a donation pile!

I've made good headway. But I'm not done yet. After I make my way through everything, I'll probably give it all another once over. I see a pattern emerging though in what is surviving the cut. There's a seeming uniformity to what remains.

Curt has his little girl that we all heard about and he also has a little boy. He does appear to be very busy with his family as well as his acting career.

Wanted to add...Jane, it's good to hear from you! I always wonder what happens to people on the thread. Sounds like you have a fun vacation planned...I think going on a water excursion with Melody would be a blast! I've never seen that kind of mask before (but I'm not really up on that)...it looks so much more comfortable than tube in the mouth! Did you say you hung out on the bottom of the pool though?

Anita, thanks! What a nice thing to say! I'll be in "our" rashguard [emoji6]. These are wonderful, you can submerge for short periods (the snorkel seals itself). Submerge, check something out & return to surface, blow out snorkel, keep going. Most of what I like to do is "float" snorkel, just paddle along & look. This full face has 180 degree viewing & doesn't fog up. Best part is you just breathe normally, nothing in the mouth or having to keep the snorkel in position. Stays put on your head with thick adjustable (comfortable) bands that don't snag your hair. You can even get them with a go pro mount. I have the Head brand but the Triboard Easy Breath is excellent. I might actually order one from Amazon (teal, pink, neon yellow (!), with matching fins, they're about $60. I'm not crazy about the black love the bright blue tho. Both Les & I wear the S/M. Also, these are highly recommend for guys with mustaches & beards, daughter's SO is ecstatic with his. Melody

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. We are going to Cuba at that same time Laurie is doing Southern Caribbean and expect for planning excursions I have not thought about my wardrobe at all . I guess I should think about it a little bit .I expect it to be brutally hot so I am probably taking an extra outfit . I am only taking a carry on . I have done this for my last few short cruises and it worked out well . I had plenty of choices .

I'm starting to pull things together for our end of November cruise. I'm taking more swimwear & rash guards than usual as we plan on several snorkeling excursions.

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Sally I can't wait to see pictures & hear about your Cuba adventures. It'll probably be wicket hot (big hat time). Melody

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Laurie. If you want a really good sandwich in St Thomas go to Bumpa's. It's on the main quay in the old shopping district. Beside Cardow jewelry. Our daughter had what she called the best steak & cheese she's ever had. Les used to work with the owner, Rollie, when he was a teenager . Melody

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Yum! We always look fo restaurants to try!

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We have our official apt transfer date. August 9. Sigh. Like I said...should be more tedious than strenuous.

We were able to tour the apt and it is amazing how different it is. Very excited.

Melody...nice to read the bit about the dudes with facial hair and the mask style. DH always has issues getting a good seal on the masks so if he could get one with that style, that would be awesome! In the past he has literally opted to use his swim goggles instead of the wider mask.

I think it would be great fun for us all to do a water excursion of some sort! If we could just manage to all book a cruise at the same time...that'd be the first step though. That seems a hard ask though considering geography and schedules.

I'm game Anita! Kim tried to set one up but no one could ever get together. Next summer/fall is out for us as it's our 50th high school reunion. I really wish they'd set a date!

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Anita, part of my reply truncated. I'm so glad that the "re"move is imminent! It'll be so much more relaxing to know you're actually going to be settled!

Daughter's SO has scuba dived & snorkeled for years (he has a mustache & goatee). He said this full face mask is like his full faced scuba mask, & he'll never use the traditional mask or goggles again, nothing pulled or leaked, he was very, very happy with it. Melody

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I've always wanted to snorkel. It sounds so much fun. Maybe someday, we can come up with a date for a group cruise that will work for all of us.

For whatever reason, I seem so stumped on what to do in St. Thomas. Once your daughter is back, Melody, please ask her about the different things she did while there.

We were planning on exploring Curacao on our own. We decided on a tour that a lot of people recommended. However, there is still plenty of time for us to explore the port area, which I hear is nice also. So at this point, I think only St. Thomas is unplanned.

I have a wedding this weekend, and I'm not certain what to wear. I have dresses to wear, so that isn't the problem. I think the true issue is not having THE dress I want to wear. Sometimes, it can be so difficult to predict a dress code. I asked the bride, who works with me and she laughed and said "don't wear shorts!". Her wedding and reception are all in one location, but it is a nice place. It isn't overly formal, but the kind of place where if my husband wore dress pants, a dress shirt and a jacket, I think he'd be fine. For myself, I wasn't certain. I think my red split shoulder dress would work nice, but I feel like I want to look....summery. I may wear that olive green dress that both Anita and I have, with that whip stitch around the arm opening? I just kind of wanted something a bit dressier.

I have a dress that I posted a picture of previously, but I would have to take another picture to show you. It's that Ralph Lauren rioja red lace dress. I think the sequins may be questionable for a 3:00 wedding though?

I have a some dresses left to be adjusted too. I've been taking them in or doing them myself with priority in mind - favorites first. I guess I didn't think ahead to the wedding!

There is a dress at WHBM I would wear in a heartbeat if I thought it might be a good dress. I just don't think the style is going to work right for me, but I really love it. Oddly enough, it's a print.

https://www.whitehouseblackmarket.com/store/product/yellow+floral+print+slip+dress/570203812?color=1622&catId=sale

I don't really have time to look at this though. Tomorrow is our anniversary, and we have a date night planned. Dinner and a movie! I wanted it to be fun, so we are going to Movie Tavern, which is the place I told you about. They have recliners, and serve you your food and drinks right there in the theater. I figure we are dressing nice for the wedding the next day, so tomorrow can be fun and relaxing.

That dress would be great for an afternoon casual wedding, especially with your great shoulders

St Thomas is one of my favorite islands. I'd recommend taking one of the open air taxis on a half day tour. You get 3 hours of shopping in Charlotte Amalie (downtown) & 3 hours of touring the island. It's a good way to see the highlights. I think it was $15-20 per person. We went to Maegans Bay ($7 entrance fee), the overlook (gift shop included), Blackbeard's Castle & several other places. We got back to the starting point & shopped (I could've used more time there [emoji6]) then the taxi took us back to the ship. If you just want a beach take a taxi to Secret Harbour Beach or Emerald or Coki Beach...all just lovely.

Have a great anniversary--sounds like a great date, are you seeing Dunkirk? We're going to see it tomorrow (as it's raining here).

I'll ask Karin what else she'd recommend. Melody

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