h20skibum

Today’s elf appearance And Ricky has decided to send Christmas cards to all his pet friends. I guess all the pets here will have to accept this digital version.

Wow! I hope they get things sorted out.

@Sea Dog Greg, sorry to read that you had to cancel Beyond, but better to be healed and able to enjoy a cruise.

Pretty harsh critics on live reviews here. I was debating on possibly doing one next week, but don’t think I can devote that kind of time. I may just post a few things here, since I have even had trouble keeping up here lately. On another note, luggage tags for our second cruise were available today, so another thing off my list.

I think a lot of those were just posting links to their YouTube, or FB, or blog sites, and I didn’t get the impression anyone of them was going to attempt a LIVE Happy birthday to your oldest son. Happy birthday to your second son. Looks like lots of December birthdays. Both my son and my son-in-law have birthdays coming up.

Happy birthday to your youngest daughter.

Found someone guarding the elf this morning.

I experienced some of those restrictions. Before we consolidated plans, my wife was on Verizon, and I was on a low rate carrier that used their towers. There was one place, when we were traveling, where she had service, and I had none. There were times it was noticeably slower for most things. We could easily compare, because we had the same iPhones and were in the same area.

That same thing could be said of Royal Caribbean and their age policy on certain excursions. Not everyone, 70 or older is the same. Some of us could run rings around people 20 years younger.

That sounds like Susan and me. We had the initial two, plus one, then none since then. I had Covid in 22 after flying to California to pick up our grandson for the summer, and Susan had it this summer. No more shots for us, since it was just like a bad cold. I did find our cards, tucked inside our passports when I pulled them out for our trip. So much to do in the next week to get ready. Plus, we have to fit in a couple office parties, early Christmas celebration, birthday celebration, ice show, and packing for a month.

Tis the Season! Ricky is getting ready for the Ugly sweater party.

Looks like the pesky elf is making a mess this morning.

Speaking of Advent calendars, since our grandkids were big into Harry Potter this summer, we got all of them these. They are eagerly making their way through each day.

The latest Prey book I referenced above have Lucas and Virgil teaming up, with pretty equal parts.

I have read all of his books. The problem with finding authors we like, is they can’t write as fast as we read.

And it can be very noisy, early morning, and late at night.

Thank you Sue. Congratulations on that Miami win. You know you put that motorhome away to early. Campground is open year round here, and I still see a lot camping.

Thank you both. I think this is the first time that I am so unprepared for a cruise. No excursions booked, and I just got around to printing out a packing list. Lots to do in the next week.

If anyone is looking for a good read, these are a couple new ones by John Sanford and Michael Connelly. I finished the Sandford one and I am halfway through the other.

Thank you all. I hope I didn’t miss anyone, because I was reading and typing as Susan drove in our travels today. And @Ozark_Kid John, I missed the part where you said you had an outside chance of getting into a clinical trial. I certainly hope you are able to. Early this morning, before we traveled for a family get together, we dropped off these Angel Tree gifts. We were buying for a young, 8 year old girl. Most kids may ask for the latest toys or games, but this girl wanted a warm coat, and socks, and shoes, and clothes.

They are in the process of appealing it now. It wouldn’t be the first time through this ordeal, and we have helped them quite a bit. We do anything we can for our kids. I feel bad for others going through this that do not have the means to do what is necessary.

Thank you all for your kind words for our great news. So what happens next? The type of cancer she had, has a history of recurrence. Cleveland Clinic is in phase 1 clinical trials for a cancer vaccine for the specific type she had. Since her tests came back good, they have accepted her to participate in the trials. She will receive the first of the three vaccines before Christmas. Since she will be in the trial, they will keep close tabs on her. I thought it was strange that the sponsor for the clinical trial is the Department of Defense. I would have never guessed. Their results over the last three are promising.

I finally got caught up on this thread. I was preoccupied last week because of things going on. It started on Monday. We watched our grandkids, because they had the day off from school. Our daughter was at Cleveland Clinic to have a day filled with many tests. After all the chemo and radiation, she finally completed her eight cycles of oral chemo last month. It was a long day, and before she got home, she already had some results that they found a spot on her lung and liver that needed further evaluation. Monday is a sleepless night. They checked around, and the Cleveland Clinic in Canton, Ohio would be able to do the additional testing on Wednesday. Tuesday, they call and tell her that they didn’t think insurance would cover the test. Ok, we give her 5k to pay for the testing and have her keep the appointment. Tuesday is another sleepless night. Wednesday, I drive her to Canton. Prep and testing did not go as smoothly as it should have, but they finally got going with it around 5pm. Drive back to Pennsylvania, and it was another sleepless night for everyone. Thursday morning, and Susan and I were already talking about canceling our cruise in two weeks, depending on the results. Thursday afternoon, the call comes. I am glad they prefaced their call with “It’s good news!” No sign of cancer. You can’t imagine the weight that was immediately lifted from our shoulders when we heard that news. I know many of our friends here said a prayer for her and her family over the past couple years, and I thank you all for that. I guess you could say that this is our Christmas miracle.

Shades of Home Alone 2. Another good Christmas movie. Greg, hoping you both get things worked out so it doesn’t impact your Beyond sailing.

So sorry to read this, John. Prayers to her family. And know that you are in our prayers also.