marshhawk

Good Friday Afternoon Dailyites. Yes Irving crossed over the Rainbow Bridge this morning, and was buried next to Neko, Fuzzy and Bebe. Hard year for cat loss, and Irving was Chuck's buddy. Sat in his lap all the time, even when Chuck was working. It was very sad for me, but I think much harder on Chuck. All I could think of was how much pain this cat had been in over the last year. That helped me make the decision. I have always wanted to go to Orkney, ever since I heard a musical piece, called An Orkney Wedding, and at the end of the piece, a bag pipe came down from the back of the hall, marched up on the stage, and joined in the festivities (yes it was part of the symphony, but quite dramatic). Orkney, Shetland, Isle of Man and Isle of Skye. Yup, that and Iceland, will complete my current un planned un reserved, bucket list. @St Pete CruiserI hope you left the spider where you found him, like not on the ship. @dfishI love hiking around the north GA mountains looking for Trillium. Have not done that in a while, oh looking for the elusive rhododendrons. Have fun with the return to Farkle Fridays! @dobiemomI'm sorry you aren't able to get that 6 hours of sleep again, back to the naps. DH put soft gauge pads under the patch, he said it helped because it was no longer digging into his face when he slept. And with gauge he was still getting air to the eye. I like comedy. I like going to see comedians. I don't like a comedian that thinks that cursing is funny. Shari and I were on a cruise years ago, and the comedian used cuss words every other word. We both got up and walked out. She looked at me and said it sounded just like our office. But DH will tell you Shari and I always sounded like two sailors with limited vocabulary. Does anyone watch Death in Paradise, when Catherine was going to help Mooney make watermelon curry? When I saw pumpkin curry, that's all I could think about. But I had great spicy pumpkin soup in Jamaica, and I love curry, so I may have to try this when we get back from our trip. I told DH I am not cooking anything that creates left overs before we leave. And I am not going to dirty a dish after Monday night. OK, Holland question for the day? Do they sell cigarettes on board?

@Quartzsite Cruiser I gave him the phone number, but not sure if his 7 days with Carnival would qualify him. And I dont think he would care. I found out last night that we are the last group boarding, and that was because he felt he had no rush to get information completed. I told him, when he offered to book the cruise, it was on him, but I would instruct him. I didnt realize that he didn't know a lot because he never asked questions. I've been the vacation planner for the last 3 years with him. Oh well, since he gets into Vancouver before we do, I gave him the mission to find out where to eat dinner in walking distance of the hotel. Thank you for telling me I was not insane booking a cruise, when I have one next week, and 25 days on a ship October/November. The cruise is not until October of 24. Plenty of time to pay it off, and plan something else. Maybe I should drive around the country and visit with all the dailies.😉

DH said that he would get the seafood boil if offered, and so would I. One thing I really miss in Atlanta is fresh seafood. I know those lobsters are alive at Red Lobster, but I cant afford their airfare. What we used to go for is crab, but with the crab shortage, even that isn't offered as far as I know. Every cruise that DH and I have taken I always told him, I miss the cats. On our last cruise last fall, I told him that I miss the Daily. I wont have a computer or wifi, so when I leave next Wednesday morning I wont know what's going on for 3 weeks. 🙀 I knew that we wouldnt hear from @bennybear today, but you are in my thoughts and prayers today.

@rafinmd-Thanks, got this tonight from Holland Dear Ann, Thank you for your recent correspondence with Holland America Line. While your Cruise History and Status with our Sister/Parent Lines does not carry over to your Mariner Society Status, we are able to upgrade you to our first tier. We have upgraded yourself and Charles to 1 Star Mariners based on your history with Carnival. You can read more about the program and its rewards here https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/mariner-society.html . Please let us know if we can be of further assistance or visit us online a

@rafinmdI think so too, but you know how they hate to say when they are on a cruise. I mean steaks like that just dont happen! LOL. Roy, I'm glad that you are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's amazing how motivational an upcoming cruise is. The rain started when I went to walk the neighbors dog. It has gotten heavier, then lighter and it is in the forecast for some time. I live in the south, and it has been in the 50's all day. What's up with this weather? Oh, wait, the computer says it's 60. Bring out the bikini! I think I'm in training for Alaska weather.

Well we got half of what we needed to do done. DH basically had to unplug the alarm system. We bought a hose, but it made it to the car port, not the back yard. I bought my glasses at Americas Best, BOGO, and the pair I thought were cute, truly are dorky on me....and the ones that I bought as a flash back to the 60's fit my personality and face perfectly. DH made much wiser decisions on his, one for the computer and one for far away, and i bought two pairs for far away. I packed this week for my trip. It was supposed to be a trial packing, but once I got it zipped up, I figured, nope, I'm done. I do realize that there are still some items that didn't make it in the suitcase, but DH has decided to do one large suitcase and one carryon in the event that the suitcase gets lost, and I will throw my extra stuff in his large suitcase. I also had a moment of insanity today, but I'm sticking with it. A cruise line, not Holland, was having a 50.00 deposit per person for a cruise to Aruba, Curacao, La Romana and Amber Cove. I booked it. Cove Balcony. DH says we can cruise as long as it's places we havent been, but he said he would "suffer" through Amber Cove...one of our favorite ports. So now 2024 is taken care of. It cruises from Miami, and I've never been there either. @grapau27I'm loving the food porn. Whats for dessert? ,

Good Thursday Morning Daiyites! Our home alarm keeps going off. This started on the 22 when DH was gone, and I got the alarm to stop ringing, so for a week it didnt beep. But today it was what woke me up. ARghh! DH is disconnecting the box. After that, out we go!.

I've often wondered why people complain about cruises. You invest a lot of money, but you still take yourself, where ever you go. Maybe I just accept things a little too easy, and I rarely dare myself to get out of my comfort zone. So, on a cruise, as long as I have coffee, I'm a happy camper. I'm not working, the meals are paid for, I don't have to do the dishes, I do make my own bed, just because I see how over worked the stewards are. Get a clean towel, I'm good to go. I'm fed, I don't have to cook and I am not working! Except for the ship sinking, I'm good to go. Usually the fellow passengers are entertaining enough, so What's there to complain about? @rafinmdI sent an email to Holland with our Carnival VIFP Club numbers, and I emailed the BFF the phone number. Today we turned on the outside water, but tomorrow I have to get a new hose. Fill the ponds up. Then my new glasses arrived, so I will be picking them up, hope they are right. And we will be digging the grave for Irving. He will be with his friends in Kitty Heaven. So If i dont come on tomorrow or Friday you all will know why. @kazuBeing the true cat that I am, I have a stuffed rat in my purse. He always go the the doctors with me. I was going to suggest taking a stuffed animal, you took the right one. ((((HUGS)))) My elbow hardware is there for good. It rains, gets humid, gets cold, it hurts. When I drive and my arm is out in the sun, the metal gets hot. BUT I don't set off any alarms when I go through security. 😎 and OMG on that hail in Florida! @ger_77Please tell your dear hubby a very Happy Belated Birthday! Is he still looking for musicians and songwriters? please email me at anniemounce at yahoo dot com if he is. I'll even send him lyrics. The song I would not sell to someone famous because they wanted their name as song writer.

Happy Wednesday Morning Dailyites! I love the quote today, it reminds me of a line from Eat, Pray Love. I dont think it insults women, i think it insults men. DH would eat the meal of the day, but soy is not kind to me, and tofu is out of the question. Looks interesting though. I love the pictures from today, @rafinmdRoy, your adventure sounds wonderful and i love the lava rock, and what appears to be some type of quartz that are over the entrances We turned off the water under the house for the outdoor faucets when the temperatures got down to zero, but now the small watergarden is not getting enough rain, so it's time to turn the faucets on again. It is cloudy, we are expecting rain on and off until Monday, but while it feels like we get a lot of rain, it hasn't filled the water garden up. The critters depend on that water. I can put fresh water in a bowl, but the feral cats are not impressed. Apparently not enough flavor.

@bennybear and @kazu

@dfishThank you for all that you do on this site, and for being my friend and counsellor.

@dobiemom email sent.

Cruise Question. My friends who are staying at a HAL recommended hotel and have a verandah/balcony cabin but booked months after we did have an arrival time of 10 a.m.. Most everyone in my roll call is getting on between 11 and 11:30. We are not to arrive before 1, which means too late for lunch once we get on, as we have an early dinner in Tamarind-how are boarding times assigned? My friends arrive the night before the cruise, we are in Vancouver for 4 days and did not provide flight information. ??? Whats the secret? Where did we go wrong? Or was it because we finally had to call in our credit card information last week as the web site kept attaching one card to all three people? Oh well, as long as they feed me the rest of the cruise, and dont treat us as steerage, we should be OK. It just keeps reminding me of why we continue to cruise with one cruise line because of the perks. And they are all owned by the same company. Too bad they don't carry over from one division to another. Second question-the tiles-who gets them, ? I have a lot of delft items in the house, from mom and from my own love of delft, and used to frequent a Dutch store in Helen GA. Third question-can you get wake up calls? BFF hears a flea fart at 30 paces, so my ticking alarm clock would cause him to throw it over board. Once when he stayed at our house he took all the batteries out of the clocks one night. I am obsessed with time, so that I don't sleep through something. Like work, or a meal.

@bennybearYou are in my prayers tonight.

@kazu Good luck tomorrow, and I hope getting the metal out, will make you feel better!

@cruzn singleDH did the same thing, on his last MOHS. Both the doc and I begged him to go into hospital but he didn't want to until the next day when more surgery was done, but not more MOHS. His first surgery at the beginning was 13 hours of testing and surgery. His (now if you are squeamish-don't read this) upper lip was taken off completely and his lower lip was cut in two and remade into an upper and lower lip).

@aliaschiefThank you for the food porn menu, and now I'm hungry again. I wrote the checks, paid the bills and went to the post office to mail them and buy stamps. Stopped at chic fil A for lunch, DH is at work, and I'm off until 5:30. Its also walk the dog night. I think every one in Stone Mountain was at the Post office, every one complaining about lost packages, and packages not being delivered. They seemed shocked that someone just wanted stamps. That people actually mail things. Thank you all for your kind words about Irving and our decision. He has always wanted to eat DH's chick fil a sandwich, couldnt handle the crunch of the chicken at lunch today, he cant eat dry food anymore, he even turned down Temptations last night. And this simply verified our decision. It is time. I am now off to the Dollar Tree, to get last minute items. I usually get a door decoration there for our cabin, but that is usually tropical in nature. Hope they have a snow flake left over from winter, I read today it is snowing in Kodiak.

Good Tuesday Morning Dailyites! Well I'm off today, but work tonight, I feel very strange about that. I guess i should actually try to do some yard work. And pay the bills, and mail them, and buy stamps... and prep the bills for next month, when I'm not here. I paid two months for the phone, the gas, and will for the water. Electric comes before the end of the month. Which reminds me to pay the bills. NOW!

Even petting Irving is upsetting to him. He loves the heat vent, and Chuck's lap, but right now he is sleeping on the floor next to me. We just didn't want to procrastinate the inevitable and have him pass away with just the sitter here. No reason to put more stress on Penny.

Its the end of the day, work is done, dinner was cooked, I ordered my meal for the flight out to Seattle, where we change plans to fly to Vancouver. I need to try packing to see if the small carry on suitcase will do it for me for 19 days of adventures in Alaska and Vancouver. We got our boarding time, 1 pm, our friends who have a verandah got a boarding time of 10 a.m. They think that they got early as their hotel is across the street. Who knows. But we will be having dinner at Tamarind the first night, and BFF made the reservations for 6 pm. At the rate that I am not eating, a late lunch and an early dinner wont work. The vet reminded us about Irvings last appointment. He has a high white blood cell count, could be cancer, he was losing weight, well, he has lost more weight. He does drink water, but he is dehydrated. He piddles a lot. Way too much. We explained our concern about his care with the cat sitter. And the cat sitter does not stay here. She said that boarding was 35 a night, that he would be in a cage, not with someone or another cat. DH said he could not afford that, and almost cried. The vet said that they could probably work out a discount, and that they would watch him. Then DH walked out before they were going to give Irving some fluids, and the vet asked me, what I really thought. I told her Im watching him every day, and he is just getting worse. The only think he lives for his getting his snacks after we eat. He does not play, he gets confused when he is given cat food, sits and stares at the door. We know that he has health issues, he's 15 and a half. We were told when we adopted him he would have problems as he was neutered too young. And now all of him has problems. We decided not to do more for him, and we are having him euthanized on Friday. We are both taking the day off. But then I found out that my job has been cut from 20 hours a week to 12, my night job was cut from 18 to 12, and I really am ready to take that vacation. So all in all, today was pretty bad.

Good Monday Morning Dailyites! We are off to the vets this morning with our elderly not so well Irving. We want to ask our options for him at the vets. He would starve to death if left at the house, as he only wants to eat human food, and lost a massive amount of weight last year when we were gone for 11 days. This time we will be gone for a much longer time, and the cat feeder/carer /litter bix cleaner did not when asked to, give him "human" food that we had for him. He is always unconfortable and is in pain, and howls a lot, and I have felt for a long time that it was "his time". DH is finally in agreement, but wants to check if we board him, while we are gone, would it make a difference?

@lobsternightAre you on the May 1st cruise with @HAL4NOW and @Cruising-along? or the cruise that is 14 day on the NA?

@Sharon in AZ I noticed the price was 5.00. But included wine. What would the price be for a non drinker? Or was it free, but if you got the wine it was 5.00. ? I know silly question, but I cruise in two weeks. Inquiring minds want to know. Looks good. @durangoscotsI cried when I read your story about the adopted boy wanting to pay it forward through critters. I'm adopted, guess that's why I take in every stray cat that comes here. And I cried when @ger_77told us the story of the little Ukrainian girl who gave her her only toy from her home country in thanks for what she had done for her. Actually I cry a lot when reading posts here. I also let out very loud laughs. I may not go out much, but there is actual life in this group of people. Our victories and our losses are shared here, and we are each others cheer leaders, and each others shoulders to cry on. Thank you all for making my birthday today so wonderful. I got my breakfast out, but it was so late, I had lunch instead. DH remembered in the middle of the NASCAR race today, that he had not given me my other birthday gift. He gave me a membership to our natural history museum, which i love to go to, as they have hiking trails, and an actual bird bath so that we can see the birds. Of course the trouble with that is Fawn can too. But she has slowed down in her old age.

Good Sunday Morning Dailyites! So much news in two pages! @smitty34877I kept trying to find out if the problem was resolved yesterday, and I guess it has been, but what a scary day for you all. You were in my thoughts and prayers. @grapau27Again, thank you for bringing Father David to us, and I wish him well on his pilgrimage. @StLouisCruisers I think it's wonderful you can wake up that early every morning and get the Daily started, but this might be why you are not sleeping well. Make sure you get nap time! @0106 The Endurance is one of my favorite books. And Shackleton is my hero. @kochleffelThank you for sharing the story of the unicorn cat. He is adorable.! I was right about that lunch yesterday, that was the meal of the day. I was still full at dinner time, DH worked until 9, and I played on the computer. I had a really good sale, all set up for yesterday, and found out that the computer didn't accept debit cards, even if they said Visa on them. So I have a call back set up for Wednesday, when the woman's personal assistant comes in, and finds the ladies real credit card.. I love English Muffins, and I love them with sausage cheese and egg. I make that often if we have the muffins. Mac and cheese, I loved my mom's mac and cheese, never got her recipe since I was banned from the kitchen after burning up some biscuits. Never got any recipes from her. I think I may go on strike today and refuse to cook breakfast. The only chore today is grocery shopping, and maybe a load of laundry. So maybe DH will take me out for a birthday breakfast. I can only hope, but now I'm hungry and he is still sound asleep. My BFF sent me information about my cruise and boarding information, so I guess I best read that, only 10 more days until we leave. Thank you for all the good birthday wishes To all of you -

@cunnorl Charlene-Happy Birthday! to my "twin" Cruise Critic Sister!