Cruising-along

Interesting. I know DH was 74 when he was called and was told there is no age limit here...that's why his doctor wrote the letter. We're in Snohomish County. At the very least it's complicated. A Google search found this https://www.elderlawanswers.com/called-for-jury-duty-you-may-be-excused-based-on-your-age-15650 And WA state isn't even listed.

Annie I was surprised too that jury duty doesn't have a deferral for Covid. I for one do not want to sit in a room full of unmasked people all day in close quarters. Some states have an age limit, you could check on that. Unfortunately my state does not. They also should take a letter from your employer if it would cause a hardship for you and/or the company to do jury duty. DH's doctor wrote a letter the last time he got a summons and it released him from all future jury duty. Good luck!

Captain O'Driscoll is one of the best! He did our vow renewal on the NS in 2019 and we sailed with him again last year.

Good morning all! It looks like we got a little bit of rain overnight, the ground is wet but I can't tell how much we got. I treasure all my friendships, forgiveness is hard sometimes, and as cruisers we've all seen a lot of beautiful lighthouses. Love the quote. I'll pass on the meal, drink and wine, have been to Crete but not to Heraklion. Thank you for the photos of the Palace Knossos -- we almost went there from another port but didn't for some reason. Today's agenda will depend on the weather. If the sun comes out I'll most likely garden, but if it continues being cloudy and drizzly I'll be forced to do some housework (lol) Excited and antsy for our Grand Australia cruise. "Only" 148 more days 😉 Hopefully having the holidays in November and December will help pass the time. We'll leave for San Diego January 2. Looking forward to meeting everyone, all 255 on our roll call (!) including Caron @Cruisercl, Lorraine @cruising sister, Susan @durangoscots, and cruising again with Rich @richwmn! Terry @smitty34877 Thank you for posting the latest photo of adorable Camilla! She truly is a beautiful little girl. Have a great day everyone!

Happy Birthday!! I hope you and your DW feel better soon. I agree with your DH! It really is good. Well things are working out with that private tour I was going to cancel. The person organizing it told me I could switch to the 4- hour from the 7-hour so I guess that's what we'll do. It wasn't clear to me I could do that, I thought the only choice was 7 hours.

Fingers crossed for you Debbie! I really enjoyed our day in Qaqortoq and we had good weather too.

Good morning all! We have clouds this morning so we'll see if we get the rain that is predicted over the next few days. As I said a couple days ago, I only drink dark beer (preferably Guinness) and only if I'm having pizza or Mexican food or if it's a very hot day 😉 😄 (so not often). I'm all for underwear every day, but will pass on the oysters. The quote -- I can think of 2 things I'm afraid of, heights and bees (allergic). During gardening season I do deal with my fear of bees every day. I do love a good Lemon Drop, and finally we have a white wine! Will pass on the meal, but would take a taste if someone made it for me. Have never been to Hakodate. Today is grocery shopping, finishing the laundry I started yesterday, more cruise planning. I'm feeling bad this morning because DH and I decided to bow out of a private tour that is turning out to just not be what we originally signed up for. It originally was for 4 hours, now it's turned into 8+ hours and nearly doubled in price. The price isn't the problem as much as now we'd be meeting over an hour before the tour starts (to all get on the same tender) so this would be a long, hot day. Thankfully there's a waitlist, so I don't think it will take long at all to find others to take our place and she has 7 months to do it. I just know it would be a long, hot tiring day for us. @cunnorl Charlene Happy Anniversary to you and your DH! @Mr. Boston Happy first day of retirement! We took the Guinness factory tour when we were in Dublin. (No, I didn't drink both of these, I'm holding DH's drink too) 🤣

Good morning all! We may get a little rain in the next few days -- we shall see. It has been so dry this summer. Not much on the agenda today, but feeling much better after 9 hours of sleep last night. Prayers for all on the care list and big cheers for all who are celebrating!

Good morning all! We always have a few cans of nuts in the pantry (cashews, peanuts, almonds) to snack on, I've never been a fan of watermelon or IPA. When I do drink beer it's always a Guinness or other dark beer if that isn't available. The drink sounds good, will pass on the red wine and meal. Tonight we're having stuffed peppers. Have never been to Manila -- thanks for the photos posted! Today DH and I are recuperating from a fun but exhausting evening with the grandsons. We didn't get home until almost midnight, I didn't sleep well so am dragging today. But we had a great time! We saw some of their Taekwondo class (they're both red belts now) and took them home after picking up dinner from their favorite place. They were stifling yawns during the class, it had been a long day because they had been to Soccer Camp all day before the Taekwondo class. But they got their second wind and ran us ragged last night. 😂 Oh to be 8 and 10 again. The older grandson got the idea of printing off pages of funny faces, making them masks for the 4 of us, and then they started taping dozens of them all over the house in odd places to surprise their parents. It was pretty hilarious, and we all were wearing our masks when DD and DSIL got home from their evening out. They did find it funny and we were all laughing so hard. I haven't ever seen the boys that excited about something in a long time. They couldn't wait for their parents to get home and see the "surprise". Sandi @StLouisCruisers and Debbie @dfish I'm sorry the Corner Brook Stream Trail wasn't open all the way around. The whole loop is such a nice trail and I would do it again if we ever get back to Corner Brook. I'm glad you got to do as much as you did though. Prayers for all on the Care List and a big Hurrah to all celebrating!

Good morning all! A good collection of days. Probably our DDIL uses CAD in her profession and I know they used it when doing the remodeling of their home. I love a good ice cream sandwich but haven't had one in years. At first I thought the night out was just that, going out lol. I immediately thought of our DSIL and DD who are going out tonight to celebrate his birthday today (and we'll be with the boys for the evening). Good quote. I love potato salad, but only the way I make it (like my DM made it). I think most people are a little fussy about their potato salad 😉 I use hard boiled eggs, celery, onion, a little sweet pickle relish and dusting of paprika. Tossed in a little Miracle Whip. I'll pass on the drink and red wine, we've been to Norway but not to Sognefjord. I've been so busy researching for our two HAL cruises coming up next year I forget that we'll be leaving in 6 weeks on a Celebrity cruise to Alaska. We haven't sailed Celebrity since 2017, it will be interesting to see the changes.... Thank you Vanessa @JazzyVfor including my niece on the care list. If you want to, she could go on the rotation list, up to you. 🙂 We won't know for awhile if she goes back into remission. I appreciate everyone's prayers so much! Such a caring group. @lazey1 Jane Happy Birthday! @kazu Jacqui that's great news that Ivan is almost at his ideal weight and that that signs show the injections are working. 🙂 @ottahand7 Nancy more beautiful flowers 🙂 I'm especially partial to Coneflowers that color. ❤️ @cruising sister Lorraine I'm so sorry to hear about baby Murphy's setback. Continued prayers for that sweet baby and all your family. @Quartzsite Cruiser Lenda good that the clinic is running ahead of time! @JazzyV I'm sorry you have low back pain and hope you can find out the cause and get a remedy that will give relief. @Seasick Sailor Joy Happy Adoption Day!

Thank you so much, Jacqui. She's gone back onto the meds, we pray it helps her again. So sad. Your parents sound like they were wonderful parents and role models Lenda.

Thank you Lenda. I do remember you mentioning that your Mother had MS too. That must have been sohard when you were so young. Yes, it's a horrible and unpredictable disease.

We got some sad news this afternoon. Our niece Jeannine, my sister’s daughter, found out that her MS has come back. I don’t remember when she was diagnosed, but she enjoyed several years of remission until now. She has 3 teenage daughters, has always been very athletic and is a professional photographer. Not to mention the sweetest person I know. This is quite a blow, prayers would be very much appreciated.

Debbie when I saw this photo I did wonder if it was for my benefit 😉 Well done! Vanessa @JazzyV Thank you! I'm sorry to hear about your knee pain yesterday -- I hope today will be better!

Good morning all! I treasure all my girlfriends, one I've had since we were 9 years old. I've never played Mahjong or climbed a mountain, but my dear Dad climbed Mt. Baker (our closest mountain and also an active volcano) when he was young. I agree with the quote, there were many books I enjoyed just as much as the children did when I read to them. I'll pass on the meal, the drink sounds good and I would try the wine -- sounds interesting. Have never been to this port -- thank you Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser for the great photos! Today will be another day of gardening and cruise planning. Happy to say my cold was brief and seems to be on its way out -- yay! @1ANGELCAT Prayers for your friend for a successful surgery and treatment. Pancreatic cancer is a horrible disease that took a good friend and my DFIL. Terry @smitty34877 Sending prayers for your DH as he undergoes his chemo treatments. @RMLincoln Prayers for your DH as he has his eye surgery today. Gerry @ger_77 So glad your DH could get in this week to see the doctor about his increasing angina. Some photos of the mountain dear Dad climbed. Mt. Baker, 10,681 feet. This one was taken from Dad's house. He loved that mountain all his life. And from a plane. This one from the road.

This is probably my biggest worry, we have 136 days booked on the Volendam next year (all warm-hot weather locales). I prefer the Pinnacle class ships especially for longer cruises (one will be 94 days, the other 42) but we also cruise for the itinerary more than the ship so we'll still have a great time and make our own entertainment. But I do hope they've gotten the A/C situation under control.

Good morning all! All of our pets have been mutts, will pass on the avocado and even the watermelon. We just had the fish burgers last night (good!) so will pass on the juicy hamburger meal too. Also pass on the drink and wine. I sound like a party-pooper! And have never been to Reclife or even to Brazil. 😂 We're having another beautiful, mild summer day, I'll probably spend most of it gardening. DH is working today and tomorrow at the Mariner games, so I'm on my own for dinner. I plan to take some leftovers out of the freezer and just relax. I'm fighting off a summer cold (doesn't feel like Covid but will check in a day or two). I hope you all have a great day. Continued prayers for sweet baby Murphy.

Yes I have some and agree!

For the most part yes, your guess would be right! 🙂

We're back from the matinee. Lenda @Quartzsite Cruiser we both agreed that the second half of the movie was better than the first. That's because the second half all took place inside the haunted mansion and the first half was a lot of background for the characters (not a bad thing, but it could have been shortened). We did enjoy it, especially the music and scenes from the mansion making you feel like you were on the Disney ride. It was silly but in a good way. The theater was pretty full, so obviously a lot of people want to see it. Before that I made bruschetta from some tomatoes and basil in my garden -- oh wow, so, so good! We ate it all for lunch. Tonight will be the fish burgers (we have Halibut). I combined 2 recipes I had, adding balsamic vinegar and parmesan to the bruschetta.

Yes, no problem. We've done that too.

I'm not POA, and sorry I wasn't more clear in my post, but they bring your choices (let them know once you board). They never would just guess. Make your choices once onboard because we never know before the cruise what wines they'll have onboard for your cruise. Many times we've been disappointed, other times happy with the substitutions.

We always choose this option so we'll have wine in our cabin. They will deliver the bottles to your cabin, after you have let them know what choices you want.

Good morning all! My FIL was a sweet man, I don't care for cheesecake unless it's chocolate, and because of cruising and CC many of us have international friendships. I'll pass on the drink and red wine, but think I'll make the 2nd recipe tonight -- it sounds good. Thank you Tina @0106! I've never been to this port. On the agenda today is the matinee this afternoon (Haunted Mansion) and making Bruschetta -- I have some big tomatoes that are ready now, plus my pot of basil. Yum. @AV8rix Bon Voyage! Thank you for the beautiful photos of your flowers @ottahand7 and @JazzyV 🙂 @Sharon in AZ sending prayers for your family member. @durangoscots Bless you for trying to find homes for Diane's cats. It broke my heart when you told about them yesterday. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Oh no, I didn't know that. What a disappointment. Now that DDIL doesn't work for Disney (or live in LA anymore), we won't be going as often, but I'm sure glad I got to go as often as I did. One reason she left Disney is because of changes she didn't agree with... Now we'll be going to the movie tomorrow, we think it may not be as crowded tomorrow. I'll let you know!